Harpreet Kaur And Another v. State Of Punjab And Others

IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT

CHANDIGARH Sr. No.109 Date of decision : 12.07.2024 Harpreet Kaur and another ..... Petitioners

VERSUS

State of Punjab and others ..... Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE KIRTI SINGH

Present:

Mr. Gagandeep Kumar Tiwari, Advocate, for the petitioners. Mr. Randhir Singh Thind, DAG, Punjab.

***** KIRTI SINGH, J. (Oral) This petition has been filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for issuance of a direction to the official respondents No.2 & 3 for the protection of the life, liberty and dignity of the petitioners from the hands of the private respondent No.4 and further prayed that respondent No.2 be directed to decide the representation dated 25.06.2024 (Annexure P-3).

2.

Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that both the petitioners are major and for the said purpose, reference has been made to the Aadhar Card. Copies of Aadhar Cards of petitioners No.1 and 2 are annexed with the petition as Annexures P-1 and P-2 respectively. The petitioner No.1 was earlier married to one Ramesh Lal @ Sonu and out of said wedlock, one child was born, but due to continuous matrimonial discord, both have taken divorce and the petitioner No.2 was married to one Tripta Devi in 2001 and out said wedlock, they have five children and due to matrimonial dispute between them, both are residing separately, since 2021. Now both the petitioners are living in a live-in relationship and now are being threatened by respondent No.4 with dire consequences.

3.

Learned counsel for the petitioners has placed reliance on the judgments passed by this Court in CRWP-4521-2021 titled as Pardeep Singh and another Vs. State of Haryana and others decided on 18.05.2021 and CRWP-4905-2024 titled as Yadwinder Singh and another Vs. State of Punjab and others decided on 24.05.2024. He has also relied upon the order dated 02.11.2021 passed by the Coordinate Bench of this Court in CRWP-10411-2021 titled as Amandeep Kaur and another Vs. State of Punjab and others as per which in a case where one of the parties was married and was living in with another person other than the spouse, this Court had granted protection to the petitioners. He has further submitted that the petitioners had given a representation dated 25.06.2024 (Annexure P-3) to respondent No.2 and would be satisfied in case respondent No.2 is directed to look into the said representation and after considering the threat perception to the petitioners to take appropriate action. 4.

Notice of motion to respondents No.1 to 3 only. 5.

At the asking of the Court, Mr. Randhir Singh Thind, DAG, Punjab accepts notice on behalf of the respondents No.1 to 3-State and has stated that he has no objection in case respondent No.2 is directed to look into the representation of the petitioners on the aspect of threat perception and to take appropriate action. Counsel for the petitioners is directed to supply a copy of the complete paper book to the learned State counsel. 6.

Heard.

7.

With respect to the aspect of the petitioner No.2 not being divorced, it is relevant to refer to a judgment of Division Bench of this Court dated 03.09.2021 passed in LPA-769-2021 titled as Ishrat Bano and another Vs. State of Punjab and others. Ishrat Bano (petitioner therein) had filed CRWP-7903-2021 which was dismissed by the learned Single

Judge of this Court primarily on the ground that the petitioners' documents were one sided documents and thus, it was appeared that the divorce was not legal. The matter was taken up in appeal and the Division Bench of this Court vide judgment dated 03.09.2021 passed in LPA-769-2021 titled as Ishrat Bano and another Vs. State of Punjab and others has held as under:- "The aspect which we are considering and dealing with is with regard to the threat to the life and liberty to the appellants as has been asserted by them. No doubt, in case a criminal case is registered against any of the parties, the law should take its own course, however, the life and liberty of any person who has approached the Court with such a grievance need to be taken care of and the protection be provided as permissible in law.

No person can be permitted or allowed to take law in his hands and therefore, keeping in view the said aspect, we dispose of the present appeal by observing that the Senior Superintendent of Police, Maler Kotla, shall take into consideration the representation dated 17.08.2021 (Annexure P-5) submitted by the appellants and if some substance is found therein, take appropriate steps in accordance with law to ensure that the life and liberty is not jeopardized of the appellants at the hands of the private respondents. This direction shall not be construed in any manner to restrain the official respondents to proceed against the appellants in case there is some criminal case registered against them.

The law shall take its own course and it shall be open to the authorities/investigating agency to proceed against the appellants, if required in law and in accordance thereto."

8.

Thus, the Division Bench after considering the aspect of the protection of the life and liberty and without getting into the issue as to whether the relationship between the parties are legal or not, even in spite of

the fact that there was a criminal case registered against the parties, however, granted them protection.

9.

In view of the same, it goes without saying that the protection of life and liberty is a fundamental right emanating out of Article 21 of the Constitution of India and the scope of the present petition is only regarding protection of life and liberty of the petitioners. 10.

Keeping in view the abovesaid facts and circumstances and without commenting upon the legality of the relationship between the petitioners or expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, this Court deems it appropriate to dispose of the present petition with a direction to respondent no.2 to consider the representation dated 15.06.2024 (Annexure P-3) and to assess the threat perception to the petitioners and after considering the same to take appropriate action in accordance with law. 11.

Accordingly, the petition stands disposed of with abovesaid directions. It is, however, clarified that this order shall not debar the State and/or any person aggrieved from proceeding against the petitioners for violation of any law or if they are involved in any other case. (KIRTI SINGH) JUDGE 12.07.2024 Kavita Nain Whether speaking / reasoned Yes/No Whether Reportable Yes/No