Published on: 18 September 2023 at 09:30 IST
Court: Supreme Court of India
Citation: Lata Singh V. State of U.P. (2006)
Honourable Supreme Court of India has held that a Woman is having a free will to marry anyone in accordance with the Article 21 of the Constitution of India. It is held that law does not allows any practice, caste or religion to become an impediment in between the choice of love of a woman in India.
14. This case reveals a shocking state of affairs. There is no dispute that the petitioner is a major and was at all relevant times a major. Hence she is free to marry anyone she likes or live with anyone she likes. There is no bar to an inter-caste marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act or any other law. Hence, we cannot see what offence was committed by the petitioner, her husband or her husband’s relatives.
15. We are of the opinion that no offence was committed by any of the accused and the whole criminal case in question is an abuse of the process of the court as well as of the administrative machinery at the instance of the petitioner’s brothers who were only furious because the petitioner married outside her caste. We are distressed to note that instead of taking action against the petitioner’s brothers for their unlawful and high-handed acts (details of which have been set out above), the police has instead proceeded against the petitioner’s husband and his relatives.
16. Since several such instances are coming to our knowledge of harassment, threats and violence against young men and women who marry outside their caste, we feel it necessary to make some general comments on the matter. The nation is passing through a crucial transitional period in our history, and this Court cannot remain silent in matters of great public concern, such as the present one.
Drafted By Abhijit Mishra
