Shivani Gadhavi
Published On: January 30, 2022 at 14:29 IST
The Madhya Pradesh High Court on January 28, 2022 observed in a Habeas Corpus Petition that every major person has right to marry whoever they want to as according to the freedom provided under provisions of the Constitution of India.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court Single-Judge Bench of Justice Nandita Dubey was hearing a Habeas Corpus Petition filed by husband of the Corpus sought production of his wife and alleged that the parents of the Corpus took her forcibly with them as they opposed the marriage alliance between the two, as the Petitioner is of Islamic origin.
The Petitioner, Guljar Khan, in the Petition stated that the Corpus willingly and wishfully got married to him and converted herself to the religion of Islam. The Corpus herself was present at the hearing via video conferencing and stated that she was forced by the Petitioner to convert to Islam.
The Corpus also alleged that her parents took her forcefully with them to Banaras and beat her up while threatening her to make statements against the Petitioner.
The Counsel, Smt Priyanka Mishra, for the State in the present case, stated that the marriage between the Corpus and Petitioner is Void and null as under the provisions of Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2021.
The Counsel for the Respondents pointed out that “Section 3 of the Act of 2021 provides that no person shall convert for the purpose of marriage and any conversion in contravention of this provision shall be deemed null and void.”
The High Court while dismissing the Counsel’s argument stated that “No moral policing can be allowed in such matters where the two major persons are willing to stay together whether by way of marriage or in a live-in relationship, when the party to that arrangement is doing it willingly and not forced into it.”
The High Court while ruling in favor of the Petitioner stated that the State and Police authorities are “directed to handover the corpus to the petitioner and to see that the petitioner and the corpus reached their house safely. The police authorities are also directed to see that in future also the corpus and the petitioner are not threatened by the parents of the corpus.”