The autonomy of a major individual to decide their own course of action, irrespective of the validity of their marriage, is a fundamental principle upheld by the court.

JUDGMENT

(Prayer: Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for issuance of a writ of habeas corpus to direct the 4th respondent to produce detenu K.Keerthana, W/o.Kalil, daughter of J.Karthikeyan, illegally detained by 5th and 6th respondents before this Honourable Court and set her at liberty.)

M. Sundar, J.

1. This order will now dispose of the captioned ''Habeas Corpus Petition'' [''HCP'' for the sake of clarity, convenience and brevity].

2. Factual matrix in a nutshell is that one ''Ms.K.Keerthana, aged 22 years'' [hereinafter ''absentee'' for the sake of convenience and clarity] (to be noted, Date of Birth of absentee is 26.10.2001) is the nucleus of the captioned HCP; that according to HCP petitioner (to be noted, HCP petitioner is aged 21 years and his Date of Birth is 05.03.2002), he and absentee are very well acquainted with each other; that HCP petitioner and absentee by their own volition got married on 28.06.2023; that according to HCP petitioner, this marriage was in the presence of HCP petitioner''s mother, brother and his relatives and that he tied Thali; that HCP petitioner and absentee profess different religions; that a wedding Ring was also part of marriage ceremony; that according to HCP petitioner, he and absentee left home on 28.06.2023, stayed in a small house in Guna Village (State of Uttar Pradesh) and were living happily as spouses; that on 02.07.2023, absentee''s relatives took her to the Kotwali Rath Police Station (Hamripur, State of Uttar Pradesh); that there are further allegations of petitioner, petitioner being relieved of his jewels, watch etc.,; that according to the HCP petitioner local police beat him besides threatening him is petitioner''s allegation; that the absentee was taken away forcibly by her relatives with connivance of police is his say; that HCP petitioner managed and reached Chennai on 05.07.2023 by train; that according to the HCP petitioner, absentee called him and messaged him saying she was being illegally detained by her parents (to be noted, respondents 5 and 6 in the captioned HCP are father and mother of the absentee); that HCP petitioner has sent a representation to first and fourth respondents on 07.07.2023 to secure the absentee; that there are some other allegations in the captioned HCP and the same can be referred to, if there is a need but considering the scope of this habeas drill on hand and the trajectory it is taking we are not dilating more on those facts in this order. Suffice to say that under such circumstances, captioned HCP has been filed in this Court on 02.08.2023.

3. Today, Mr.P.K.Ganesh, learned counsel for petitioner, petitioner Mr.Kalil Raja are before this Court.

4. Issue notice.

5. Mr.E.Raj Thilak, learned State Additional Public Prosecutor accepts notice for respondents 1 to 4 (official respondents) and learned Prosecutor is instructed by Mr.K.Boobalan, Sub-Inspector of Police, D-4, Padalam Police Station, Chengalpattu District and Mr.A.Moorthy, Sub-Inspector of Police, G- 2, Uthiramerur Police Station, Kanchipuram District.

6. Respondents 5 and 6 are present in Court.

7. We had a brief interaction with absentee (Ms.K.Keerthana) and we also perused the case diary. On perusal of case diary and based on our interaction, we deem it appropriate to make the following order:

(i) Mr.Ramesh Babu, Deputy Commissioner of Police, High Court Security, Chennai with his team, including women police will now produce the petitioner, absentee Ms.K.Keerthana, respondents 5 and 6 before learned Principal Judge, City Civil Court, Chennai in the afternoon session, preferably by 3.00 p.m. but time is subject to the convenience of learned Principal Judge;

(ii) Until production in aforesaid manner, Deputy Commissioner of Police, High Court Security shall ensure that absentee is insulated from outside interaction particularly respondents 5, 6 on one side and HCP petitioner on the other side;

(iii) Le