Etah Police ordered to provide security for the couple (Representational)
New Delhi:
The Allahabad High Court ruled in favor of an interfaith couple, underlining that the woman is an adult who “wants to live with her husband”, has “the right to live life in her conditions (and) is free to move according to her choice without no restriction or obstacle created by (a) a third party “.
The court also struck down a FIR registered against her husband in September in the Etah district of Uttar Pradesh, and ordered the police to provide security for the couple until they returned home. The FIR came forward after the woman’s father alleged that his daughter had been kidnapped and forced into marriage.
“She has the option to live life on her terms and is free to move according to her choice without any restrictions … she has expressed that she wants to live with her husband … she is free to move according to her own choice without any restriction . restriction or obstacle created by (a) a third party, “the court said.
The two-member bench, consisting of judges Pankaj Naqvi and Vivek Agarwal, spoke with the woman, Shikha, and verified that she married Salman of her own free will, as well as confirming that she had come of age; His school certificate indicated his date of birth on October 4, 1999.
The court also criticized the district’s chief judicial magistrate for handing over custody of Shikha to a Child Welfare Committee which, in turn, returned custody to her parents “without any application of mind and against their wishes.”
“The action (ion) of the Chief Judicial Magistrate (Etah) and that of the Child Welfare Committee (Etah) reflects the lack of recognition of the legal provisions,” the court said.
Previously, Salman filed a writ of habeas corpus, which challenges the illegal detention of a person, stating that his wife had been sent to her parents against their wishes.
Last week, the High Court, in a case under UP’s controversial anti-conversion law, said that a 32-year-old Muslim could not yet be arrested. The court also warned police not to take coercive action against him and said it had seen no evidence of “force or coercive process” on the part of the defendant.
The UP adopted an anti-conversion ordinance late last month amid a debate over “love jihad,” the right-wing conspiracy theory that Muslim men seduce Hindu women into converting them to their religion. However, the relationships between Hindu men and Muslim women are generally ignored.
The ordinance was criticized by four former justices, including former Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B Lokur, who told NDTV it was “unconstitutional.”
The Etah case came before the anti-conversion ordinance was passed.
“Love jihad” is a term not recognized by the center. In February, the Interior Ministry told parliament that “love for jihad is not defined in law” and central agencies had not reported such a case.
That, however, has not stopped several BJP-ruled states, including Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana, from insisting on pushing for “anti-loving jihad” legislation.
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