Couple Marrying Against Parents' Wishes Can't Seek Police Protection As Right: Allahabad High Court
Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh: While hearing a plea by a couple seeking protection from disruptions to a peaceful marriage life, Allahabad High Court recently ruled that couples who marry of their own will against the wishes of their parents cannot claim police protection.
The Court clarified that the couple would not be in the position to seek protection as a matter of right unless there is a real threat perception to their life and liberty. The High Court highlighted that the courts are not functioning to provide protection to those people who “simply fled to marry according to their own wishes.”
Read Also: ‘Hospital Should Lose Licence…’: Supreme Court Slams UP Govt, High Court In Child Trafficking Case
However, the court then noted that protection can be granted in deserving cases, adding that it cannot provide security in the absence of any threat perception. The Court underlined that the couple should learn to support each other and face society in such cases.
The couple – Shreya Kesarwani and her husband – had sought a court order granting security against private respondents disturbing their peaceful married life.
While hearing the case, Justice Saurabh Srivastava observed, “There is no requirement to pass any order for providing police protection to them in the light of the judgement rendered by the Supreme Court in the case of Lata Singh Vs State of UP and another, wherein it has been held that the courts are not meant to provide protection to such youths who have simply fled to marry according to their own wishes.”
The Court further pointed out that there is no evidence to believe that the private respondents are likely to cause any physical or mental assault on the petitioners, adding that the police have not received any information to file any FIR against the alleged illegal conduct of the private respondents.
The police will do needful in accordance with the law if they find a real threat perception, the court added.
Read Also: “She Herself Invited Trouble”: Allahabad HC Grants Bail To Rape Accused
The Allahabad High Court recently came to public limelight with several controversial rulings. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court expressed displeasure over an Allahabad High Court order that stated the rape victim “herself invited trouble” while granting bail to the accused which has invited flak from the public and higher court. The top court found the high court observation “highly insensitive.”
Last month, the apex court stayed an order passed by the Allahabad High Court which ruled that grabbing the breasts of a minor girl, breaking the string of her pajama and trying to drag her beneath a culvert would not come under the offense of attempting to rape. The observation had triggered widespread social media outcry against the judges who gave the verdict. The Court called the verdict “totally insensitive, inhuman and unknown to the tenets of law.”
