Lucknow:Allahabad High court said by cancelling the FIR/case “on the ground that no offences are made out, as discussed above, as also the fact that two grown up individuals are before us, living together for over a year of their own free will and choice.”
Allahabad High court said “We do not see Priyanka Kharwar and Salamat Ansari as Hindu and Muslim, rather as two grown-up individuals who – out of their own free will and choice – are living together peacefully and happily over a year. The Courts and the Constitutional Courts in particular are enjoined to uphold the life and liberty of an individual guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India,”
A first information report (FIR) against a Salamat Ansari from Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar – filed by the Priyanka’s parents. (Priyanka converted to Islam last year Islam and changed her name to ‘Alia’ to marry Salamat) has been cancelled by the 2-judge bench of Allahabad High Court.
The FIR in this case, The parents of the woman had alleged that she was a minor at the time of marriage and listed offences under stringent sections like “kidnapping”, “abduction to compel a marriage” and the POCSO Act (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act).
The couple Challenged the FIR, and alleged the case was filed by the woman’s parents “prompted by malice and mischief only with a view to bring an end to martial ties, and that no offences are made out.”
After establishing that the woman was an adult at the time of marriage, the two-judge bench of Allahabad High court made a host of observations to uphold “life and liberty”.
The judgement also observed “Interference in a personal relationship would constitute a serious encroachment into the right to freedom of choice of the two individuals,” and “Right to live with a person of his/her choice irrespective of religion professed by them, is intrinsic to right to life and personal liberty,”
The High court judges Vivek Agarwal and Pankaj Naqvi also made strong observations in the 14-page judgement passed on November 11, on the two previous orders by different judges in the same court in similar cases as mentioned below.
- A writ petition in 2014 filed by five couples, seeking protection after interfaith marriages; the petition was dismissed.
- A single-judge bench in September refused to interfere in a petition by a couple as they sought protection three months after their marriage. The judge cited a Supreme Court order to say – “Religious conversion – just for the purpose of marriage – is not acceptable”.
The Allahabad High court judgement dated 11th November read “None of these judgments dealt with the issue of life and liberty of two mature individuals in choosing a partner or their right to freedom of choice as to with whom they would like to live. We hold the judgments in Noor Jahan (2014) and Priyanshi (September 2020) as not laying good law.”
The Allahabad High court judgement comes during a discussed controversial law in UP, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana over “Love jihad”, a pejorative used by right-wing groups to target relationships between Muslim men and Hindu women, which, they say, is a ruse to forcibly convert the women.
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