Updated: November 25, 2020 2:45:07 am
The Allahabad High Court said that ignoring the choice of one person, who is an adult, “will not only be antithetical to the freedom of choice of an adult individual, but would also threaten the concept of unity in diversity.” (Archive)
In overturning an FIR that accused a Muslim of abducting a Hindu woman and marrying her by force after converting her to Islam, the Allahabad High Court has said that “two adults are free to choose their partner” and that it is your right to choose freely. as to who they would like to live with.
The Pankaj Naqvi Court of Justice and Judge Vivek Agarwal also said that High Court rulings in two previous interfaith marriage cases in which it had observed that “conversion solely for the purpose of marriage is unacceptable” were not “good law” .
The order takes on significance as Uttar Pradesh’s chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, had cited one of the same Supreme Court rulings to enact a law against “love jihad.”
“None of these sentences dealt with the issue of life and freedom of two mature people when choosing a partner or their right to freedom to choose who they would like to live with. We believe that the judgments in Noor Jahan and Priyanshi do not establish good law, ”the court said, referring to previous High Court orders in two interfaith couple cases.
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However, the court added: “We clarify that, in deciding this petition, we have not commented on the validity of the alleged marriage / conversion.”
The court made the observations on November 11 while listening to a petition filed by Salamat Ansari and Priyanka Kharwar (Alia), seeking the annulment of the FIR filed by the woman’s father. The couple, who had married in August last year after Kharwar converted to Islam, said in their petition that the FIR was “motivated by malice and mischief.”
The FIR, housed in the Kushinagar district, had searched Ansari, her mother, and her brother for kidnapping, inducing a woman to coerce her into marriage, assault, and criminal intimidation. The police have also invoked sections of the Child Protection Against Sexual Offenses Act against Ansari.
“We do not see Priyanka Kharwar and Salamat as Hindus and Muslims, but as two adult individuals who of their own free will and free will are living together in peace and happiness for a year. Courts and constitutional tribunals in particular are obliged to defend the life and liberty of a person guaranteed by article 21 of the Constitution of India. The right to live with a person of their choice, regardless of their religion, is intrinsic to the right to life and personal liberty. Interference in a personal relationship would constitute a serious violation of the right to freedom of choice of the two people, “said the Superior Court in its order.
The court said that ignoring the choice of an adult person “will not only be antithetical to the freedom of choice of an adult person, but would also threaten the concept of unity in diversity.”
“… We are annulling the FIR mainly on the grounds that no crimes are committed…. as well as the fact that two elderly people are before us, living together for more than a year of their own free will and choice, ”the court said.
He also referred to the 2018 Supreme Court order overturning the Kerala High Court ruling annulling the marriage of converted Muslim girl Hadiya and Shefin Jahan. The Supreme Court had said then that “the right to marry a person of your choice is an integral part of article 21 (right to life and liberty) of the Constitution.”
“A reading of the aforementioned judgment shows that the Supreme Court has consistently respected the freedom of a person who has reached the age of majority,” said the Allahabad High Court.
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