The observation from court came while it was hearing a plea filed by one Shreya Kesarwani and her husband seeking security and a court order against private respondents disturbing their peaceful married life.
The Allahabad High Court has ruled that couples who marry against their parents’ wishes cannot seek police protection as a matter of right unless there is a real threat to their life and liberty. It also observed that courts are not to “provide protection to those who simply fled to marry according to their own wishes”.
The observation by the Allahabad High Court came while it was hearing a plea filed by a couple seeking protection. The court mentioned that security can be provided in “deserving” cases but not in the absence of any threat perception. In such cases, the couple must “learn to support each other and face the society”, said the court.
Shreya Kesarwani and her husband filed a petition in the court seeking security and a court order against private respondents disturbing their peaceful married life.
“There is no requirement of passing any order for providing police protection to them in the light of the judgement rendered by the Supreme Court in the case of Lata Singh Vs State of UP and another, wherein it has been held that the courts are not meant to provide protection to such youths who have simply fled to marry according to their own wishes,” Justice Saurabh Srivastava observed.
“There is not even an iota of evidence to evince that private respondents (relatives of either of the petitioners) are likely to cause physical or mental assault to the petitioners,” the court noted.