Roma Pal & Anr. v. State Of U.P. Thru. Addl. Chief Secy. Home Govt. Of U.P. Lko

Petitioner :- Roma Pal And Another Respondent :- State Of U.P. Thru. Addl. Chief Secy. Home Govt. Of U.P. Lko. And Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Prateek Shrivastava, Ramesh Babu Counsel for Respondent :- G.A. Hon'ble Attau Rahman Masoodi,J. Hon'ble Ajai Kumar Srivastava-I,J.

Heard learned counsel for the petitioners and learned A.G.A. for the State- respondents.

This petition has been filed with the following main prayer:- "I. Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of mandamus directing the opposite parties to secure the marital life and liberty of the petitioners and not to harass the petitioners and their family members in any manner. "

It has been submitted by learned counsel for the petitioners that petitioner no.1 and petitioner no. 2 are both major, who on their own volition and free-will have got married with each other in accordance with Hindu rites and rituals on 06.05.2025 at Arya Samaj Shivpuri Kamta, Chinhat, Lucknow. A copy of marriage certificate is annexed as Annexure No. 3 to this petition. It is submitted that the family members of petitioner no. 1 are unhappy with such marriage. In support of his submission that petitioners no. 1 and 2 are major, learned counsel for the petitioners has drawn our attention to the Annexure Nos. 1 and 2 to the petition which contain High School Certificate of the petitioner no. 1 and Aadhar Card of petitioner no. 2. As per the said documents the date of birth of petitioner no. 1 is 01.01.2003 and that of petitioner no. 2 is 07.02.2003. The petitioners are being harassed by the opposite party No.4, who is the father of the petitioner no.1. They therefore prayed for the benefit of the judgement rendered by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Lata Singh vs. State of U.P. and another reported in 2006 (5) SCC 475 and the observations made in paragraph 17 which reads as under:- "17..... We, therefore, direct that the administration/police authorities throughout the country will see to it that if any boy or girl who is a major undergoes inter-caste or inter-religious marriage with a women or man who is a major, the couple is not harassed by anyone nor subjected to threats or acts of violence, and anyone who gives such threats or harasses or commits acts of violence either himself or at his instigation, is taken to task by instituting criminal proceedings by the police against such persons and further stern action is taken against such persons as provided by law. "

This Court has found from the perusal of judgement rendered in Lata Singh Vs. State of U.P. and another (supra) wherein the appellants had approached the Supreme Court against the police harassment because of F.I.R. being lodged by the brother of appellant no.1.

In the case of the petitioners there is no F.I.R. lodged. The police cannot be presumed to harass the petitioners only under the influence of the private respondent No.4. The action of Police is governed by the provision of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (hereinafter referred to as BNSS). Particularly, Chapter XIII of BNSS, corresponding Chapter XII of Cr.P.C., makes provision for information to Police and their power to investigate. In absence of any proof of such information regarding which the provision has been made under Sections 173 and 174 of BNSS, corresponding Sections 154 and 155 Cr.P.C., respectively, it will not be justified to grant a blanket protection to the petitioners as prayed.

This writ petition is disposed of with a direction to the petitioners that in case they are being threatened by their family members, they may file an application under Section 154(2) or 154(3) of the Cr.P.C. (corresponding Section 173 (2) or 173 (3) of B.N.S.S., 2023) before the Police Station/Superintendent of Police concerned, or move an application under Section 156 (3) of the Cr.P.C. (corresponding Section 175 (3) of B.N.S.S., 2023) before the Magistrate concerned or file a complaint case under Section 200 of the Cr.P.C. (corresponding Section 223 of B.N.S.S., 2023) before the authorities concerned.

It is provided that the petitioners shall get their marriage registered by making an appropriate application under the Uttar Pradesh Marriage Registration Rules, 2017. . [Ajai Kumar Srivastava-I, J.] [Attau Rahman Masoodi, J.] Order Date :- 16.5.2025 lakshman LAKSHMANA KUMAR TAMMANA High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench