Court No. - 89

Case :- WRIT - C No. - 3541 of 2023

Petitioner :- Smt. Suman @ Suman Kumari And Another

Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 4 Others

Counsel for Petitioner :- Akhilesh K. Dwivedi,Ramesh Chandra Tripathi

Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C

Hon'ble Syed Aftab Husain Rizvi,J.

Heard learned counsel for the petitioners and learned standing

counsel for the State.

Present petition has been filed by the petitioners claiming

protection of their lives and liberty as they have married of their

own free will and are adults and are living together. The

averments made in the petition are supported by the joint

affidavit of the petitioners. Further, it is stated that private

respondent and other family members have got annoyed and

there is serious danger to the lives of the petitioners as they are

being threatened and harassed.

In support of their age, petitioner no.1 has brought on record

her High School Certificate wherein her date of birth is shown

as 11.10.2004 and petitioner no.2 has brought on record his

High School Certificate wherein his date of birth is shown as

11.07.1997. Thus, it appears from the record that both the

petitioners are major.

It is further stated that the petitioners have already applied for

registration of their marriage.

The petitioners have averred in the writ petition that they are

living as wife and husband. It is stated that they have

apprehension that private respondent can eliminate them for the

honour of her family. In case this Court does not grant them

protection, their lives may be endangered.

In view of the order proposed to be passed, there is no need to

issue notice to private respondent. With the consent of learned

counsel appearing for the parties, this writ petition is being

disposed of finally at this stage in terms of the Rules of the

Court.

The Supreme Court in a long line of decisions has settled the

law that where a boy and a girl are major and they are living

with their free will, then, nobody including their parents, has

authority to interfere with their living together. Reference may

be made to the judgements of the Supreme Court in the cases of

Gian Devi v. The Superintendent, Nari Niketan, Delhi and

others, (1976) 3 SCC 234; Lata Singh v. State of U.P. and

another, (2006) 5 SCC 475; and, Bhagwan Dass v. State

(NCT of Delhi), (2011) 6 SCC 396, which have consistently

been followed by the Supreme Court and this Court, as well as

of this Court in Deepika and another v. State of U.P. and others,

2013 (9) ADJ 534. The Supreme Court in Gian Devi (supra) has

held as under:

"7. ... Whatever may be the date of birth of the petitioner, the fact remains

that she is at present more than 18 years of age. As the petitioner is sui

juris no fetters can be placed upon her choice of the person with whom

she is to stay, nor can any restriction be imposed regarding the place

where she should stay. The court or the relatives of the petitioner can also

not substitute their opinion or preference for that of the petitioner in such

a matter."

Having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case, this

Court is of the view that the petitioners are at liberty to live

together and no person shall be permitted to interfere in their

peaceful living. In case any disturbance is caused in the

peaceful living of the petitioners, the petitioners shall approach

the Superintendent of Police, Azamgarh i.e. respondent no. 2,

with a copy of this order downloaded from the website of this

Court, who shall provide immediate protection to the

petitioners.

A liberty is granted to the private respondent that if the

documents brought on the record are fabricated or forged or any

false averment has been made or facts have been concealed, it

will be open to him to file a recall application for recall of this

order.

As registration of marriage is compulsory vide decision of the

Supreme Court reported in (2006)2 SCC 578 and (2008)1SCC

180 Seema (Smt.)