The daughter of a Rajasthan High Court judge, who was restrained from marrying the man of her dreams, got united with her love on Monday after the Supreme Court stepped in and decided to grant her wish since she was a major.
Justice Raghvendra Singh Rathore had placed his daughter under house-arrest upon learning of her wish to marry her boyfriend Sidharth Mukherjee. The girl even wrote letters to the Supreme Court and High Court judges informing them of her plight.
Being a sitting judge, there was little the boy could do. He chose to approach the apex court with a habeas corpus petition in order to ascertain her whereabouts. In his petition, he even mentioned the fact that the girl’s father objected to their marriage since he did not belong to their caste. Earlier, the court had issued a notice on the plea and asked the state police to produce the girl before it on December 16.
On the Court’s directions, the Rajasthan Police rescued the girl and produced her in Court. The bench of Justices Hl Dattu and C Nagappan recorded the girl’s statement to ascertain if she was under any pressure or influence. After being convinced that she was in love with the petitioner and did not intend to proceed against her parents, the bench directed the police to release her and allowed them to marry.
“Keeping in view her welfare and the fact that she has already attained majority, we say that she is at liberty to take her own future decisions,” the Bench said. During the hearing, the court indicated that she was free to make a statement and assured her of protection from the court. “She states (in the statement) that she does not have any ill will against anybody and wanted to marry the petitioner,” the Court recorded.
The Bench further directed the Gandhinagar police station in Jaipur to hand over the girl to the boy and gave them liberty to approach the apex court in case any “inconvenience” was caused to them. The court disposed the petition and allowed the girl to be sent with Mukherjee.