The fundamental rights under Article 21 of the Constitution of India must be protected, regardless of the validity of the marriage or the age of the petitioners.

JUDGMENT

Arun Monga, J. - Conflict raised herein is the enforcement of fundamental rights of the petitioners to seek protection of their "life and liberty" as enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution of India viz-a-viz a conceded violation of Section 5 (iii) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, inasmuch a girl aged 15 years 8 months and boy aged 19 years and 03 months claim to have married each other having purportedly being in love with each other over a long time.

2. Notice of motion at this stage only to the official respondents is being issued. On the asking of the Court, Mr. Pankaj Gupta, Additional A.G., Punjab accepts notice on behalf of respondents No. 1 to 3.

3. Advance copy of the paper book has already been supplied to learned State counsel by the learned counsel for the petitioners.

4. Given the nature of the order being passed, there is no necessity to seek any return by the official respondents or even to serve the private respondents No.4 to 6.

5. Having heard learned counsel for the petitioners, as also the learned State counsel and without going into the merits of the validity of the marriage, I am of the view that every citizen being entitled to enforcement of fundamental rights as envisaged under Constitution of India, would necessarily entail grant of appropriate protection to the petitioners herein qua their life and liberty as apprehended by them for the reasons stated hereinafter.

6. Facts, as pleaded in the petition, succinctly are that the petitioner No.l, a minor girl born on 04.10.2003 and petitioner No.2, a boy born on 10.03.2000, though a major, but not of marriageable age, purportedly are in love with each other and got married on 17.06.2019 at Panchkula according to Hindu Rites and Ceremonies. Photographs of their marriage have been appended with the petition.

7. The petitioner No.2 is stated to be in a private job and earning handsomely enough to fulfil the day-to-day needs for leading happy married life, but the private respondents are adamant not to accept the same and hell bent in ruining the life of the petitioners one way or the other.

8. Petitioners state that immediately after their marriage they informed parents and relatives of petitioner No.l who have throughout been against the relationship between them. On being informed, the parents/relatives of petitioner No.l (respondents No.4 to 6) have issued threat that they will kill both the petitioners by tracing them from wherever they are and implicate the family of petitioner No.2 in some false criminal case.

9. In the circumstances, the petitioners approached respondent No.2 (Senior Superintendent of Police, Batala) and submitted a representation (Annexure P-4) seeking to safeguard their life and liberty, but no action is being taken on the same.

10. The petitioners state that they are living in constant danger as they have every apprehension that private respondents will catch them and carry out their threats and may go to the extent of even committing their murder. The petitioners are, therefore, running here and there and unable to find any safe place to live in the absence of protection of their life and liberty. Hence the present writ petition seeking appropriate directions to the official respondents to provide protection qua their life and liberty.

11. As already noted, without expressing any opinion on the merits of the validity of the marriage at this stage, I am of the view that what needs to be addressed is the apprehension of the petitioners based on threat to their life and liberty for the reasons/circumstances as narrated in the petition.

12. Controversy that needs adjudication now is whether an appropriate writ/direction or order is warranted to allay the apprehensions of the petitioners for granting protection to them for enforcement of their fundamental rights under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

13. I am conscious of the fact that neither the girl is major nor of marriageable age, nor even the boy is of marri