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Judgment
The petitioners, who are present in the court, are seeking
protection of their lives and liberty at the hands of respondents No.4
to 6, who are stated to be the parents and brother of petitioner No.1,
on account of the fact that they have married each other of their own
free will, on 13.06.2017. Photographs of what is stated to be a
marriage ceremony have been annexed with the petition.
As regards age of petitioner No.1, there is no firm proof
of her age other than her affidavit (Annexure P-1), stating that her
date of birth is 06.11.1996, thereby making her more than 20 years of
age.
As regards age of petitioner No.2, a copy of the Aadhar
Card issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India has been
annexed with the petition, (the original of which has not been
produced in Court), showing his year of birth as 1998, thus making
him about 19 years of age.
On a specific query put to learned counsel for the
petitioners, it has been stated that neither are the petitioners in any
prohibited relationship to each other, nor has any of them been
married earlier. She states that she has obtained specific instructions
from the petitioners in that regard.
Consequently, since protection of life and liberty is a
fundamental right of every citizen enshrined in Article 21 of the
Constitution of India, this petition is disposed of with a direction to
respondents No.2 and 3 to ensure that the lives and liberty of the
petitioners are not put to any harm or threat at the hands of the
aforesaid respondents or at their behest.
However, it is made clear that if any of the averments
made in the petition is found to be incorrect, specifically with regard
to either the petitioners being in any prohibited relationship to each
other, or as regards their previous marital status, or with regard to
their age, this order shall not be construed to be a bar on any
proceedings initiated as per law.
However, since petitioner No.2 is below the legally
marriageable age on the date of the marriage, it is made clear that
proceedings shall be initiated under the provisions of the Prohibition
of Child Marriage Act, 2006, and shall continue as per law.