High Court upholds right to marry person of choice, says 'family cannot object'
PTC News Desk: The Delhi High Court, in granting police protection to a couple facing threats from their family after marriage, stated that the right to marry a person of one's own choice is indelible and constitutionally protected and that even family members cannot object to such matrimonial ties.
In a recent order, Justice Tushar Rao Gedela stated that the state has a constitutional obligation to protect its citizens, and the high court, as a constitutional court, is expected to advance the couple's constitutional rights.
"The right of the petitioners to marry a person of their own choice is indelible and protected under the Constitution, which cannot be diluted in any manner whatsoever," the high court said.
"There is no doubt about the petitioners' marriage and the fact that they are major." "No one, not even family members, can object to such a relation or to the petitioners' matrimonial ties," the court stated while hearing the couple's petition for police protection.
The petitioners claimed that they married against their parents' wishes in April and have been living happily ever since, despite threats from family members, particularly the woman's mother.
The court ordered the "State to provide protection to both petitioners and ensure that no harm befalls either of them, particularly from the woman's parents or family members," and asked the beat officer in charge to check on them on a regular basis.
"In case the petitioners have shifted to a place other than the one shown in the memo of parties, the I.O. shall intimate the said SHO of the concerned police station having territorial jurisdiction over the residential address of the petitioners, who shall comply with the present order in letter and spirit," the court added.
- With inputs from agencies
