Jammu and Kashmir High Court: A Single Judge Bench comprising of Sanjay Kumar Gupta, J. directed the police Authorities to provide protection to life and liberty to a young married couple in light of threats received from parents of the girl.
The petitioner, both major, were in love with each other. They wanted to marry, parents of the boy were ready, however, girl’s parents were not. They even threatened the boy to do away with his life if he meets their daughter again. Nonetheless, being major and understanding their well-being, the petitioners contracted marriage as per Muslim Personal Law. Since the marriage between the petitioners was not acceptable to Respondents 4 to 6, they gave an open threat to kill both petitioners. Movement of the petitioners had thereby been restricted. Fearing their life and property, the petitioners approached the High Court.
The High Court gave due consideration to the facts of the case and found that both the petitioners were major and contracted marriage out if their free will. The Court placed reliance on the Supreme Court decision in Lata Singh v. State of U.P.,(2006) 5 SCC 475, wherein the Hon’ble Court held that a major girl is free to marry anyone she likes or live with anyone she likes. Following the ratio of the said case, the High Court directed the police Authorities to take appropriate steps for providing protection to the life and property of the petitioners. The petition was disposed of accordingly. [Kaneez Akhter v. Director General of Police, 2018 SCC OnLine J&K 318, dated 30-05-2018]
