“Marrying A person Of Choice Is A Fundamental Right For Every Citizen”: Punjab & Haryana HC

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has recently announced that choosing your partner before marrying is every citizen’s fundamental right amid a hike in cases of honor killing in the area.

Court Orders

The announcement arrived as Justice Kuldeep Tiwari punished the police for compelling and taking consent from adults to approach the court by not solving the case with due care and attention.

The court is also amazed at the fact that adults who gave consent had to file a petition before the court for the issuance of directions to the concerned administration to take any action upon their representation for protection, despite “detailed guidelines in multiple judgments by the Supreme Court and several high courts.”

Justice Tiwari heard a protection plea that challenged the Punjab State and other respondents by a couple apprehending danger to their life and freedom as their marriage had led to violence among their kin. Justice Tiwari noted that the petition’s perusal disclosed that the groom got married on April 11, more than 14 years after the death of his first wife. The girl was a bachelor at the time of their marriage.

Both of them stated to be employed in a private factory in Jalandhar and “earning enough to maintain themselves and to fulfill their marital obligations towards each other.” Justice Tiwari also observed that the petitioners forwarded a representation on April 11 to the concerned authority before going to court. But there was no action taken on their plea, which left them anxious about their safety.

Justice Tiwari declared the court was not able to conclude how two “mature, responsible, and consenting adults” who had decided to get married and spend their lives together after legally performing their marriage were not given permission to live a peaceful life according to their own wishes.

Justice Tiwari stated, “To marry a person of one’s own choice is the fundamental right of every citizen. No one is bestowed with any right or authority to interfere in the marriage preferences of independent adults. Authorities concerned, who were seized of the petitioners’ representation, handled the matter with due care and circumspection, they would not have been constrained to approach this court.”

Before leaving with the case, Justice Tiwari explained that the court was not checking the evidentiary value of the documents submitted. Its concentration was to ensure proper consideration of the petitioners’ representation.

Abandoning the plea, Justice Tiwari ordered the Jalandhar Commissioner of Police to think about the petitioners’ representation and offer them protection if any danger to their lives and freedom was seen. He was also asked to take accurate measures to ensure the petitioners’ safety.

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