Allahabad High Court

SMT MAMTA DWIVEDI AND 4 OTHERSversusSTATE OF U.P. AND 3 OTHERS

Decided: 5 May 2026
Bench: TARUN SAXENA MUNIR

Holding

The FIR under Section 87 of the BNS is an abuse of process and is quashed, affirming the petitioners' right to marry by choice.

Summary

The petitioners, both adults, married each other under Hindu rites on 16-12-2025. Their families objected and the first petitioner's brother filed an FIR (Crime No. 248 of 2025) under Section 87 of the BNS alleging that the second petitioner had taken away the first petitioner by blandishment. The petitioners contended that the FIR was an abuse of process since they were mature individuals capable of giving free consent. The High Court examined the facts, noted that the marriage was voluntary and that the FIR was filed to separate the couple, and held that the FIR constituted an abuse of criminal law. Consequently, the Court quashed the FIR and directed the police to record the quashal in the General Diary.

Issues considered

Whether an FIR under Section 87 of the BNS can be sustained when both parties to a marriage are adults and consent to the marriage.
Whether the FIR constitutes an abuse of the process of criminal law.
Whether the High Court has jurisdiction to quash the FIR and direct entry in the police General Diary.

Legislation cited

BNS — s. 87
BNSS — s. 183

Subjects

marriage
consent
FIR quash
abuse of process
criminal procedure
Section 87 BNS
family opposition

Judgment

         HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD

         CRIMINAL MISC. WRIT PETITION No. - 38 of 2026

Smt Mamta Dwivedi And 4 Others
                                                        .....Petitioner(s)
                                    Versus
State Of U.P. And 3 Others
                                                       .....Respondent(s)

Counsel for Petitioner(s)       :    Antim Tiwari, Vikesh Kumar Tiwari
Counsel for Respondent(s)       :    G.A.

Court No. - 47
                   HON'BLE J.J. MUNIR, J.
                   HON'BLE TARUN SAXENA, J.

A perusal of the report of the CJM, Hamirpur, shows that service
upon respondent No. 4, Upendra Kumar Dwivedi, has been effected
in person.

Service upon respondent No. 4 is, therefore, sufficient.

The petitioners are adults. The first petitioner is a major aged about
25 years. She has married the second petitioner of her free will and
wish, and the same has been disclosed in her statement recorded
under Section 183 BNSS.

A counter affidavit has been filed on behalf of the State.

Admit.

Heard forthwith.

This writ petition has been filed seeking to quash the impugned F.I.R.
dated 16.12.2025 giving rise to Crime No. 248 of 2025, under Section
87 of BNS, Police Station Biwar, District Hamirpur.

The case of the first and second petitioners is that both are major, the
first petitioner being 25 years of age. They married each other
according to Hindu rites on 16.12.2025 at the Alopi Shanker Mandir,
Prayagraj. The prosecutrix, in her statement recorded before the
Judicial Magistrate on 21.1.2026, has stated that she is in love with
the second petitioner, Shivam Tiwari. She has known him for the past
                                                        CRLP No. 38 of 2026
                              2


two years. On 15.12.2025, at about 2 o'clock in the wee hours, she
left home without telling anyone. She went to the nearby temple
where she met Bhola, the second petitioner. The two of them
proceeded to Prayagraj. They went to the Alopi Mandir on 16.12.2025
and got married. They then proceeded to Delhi and rented
accommodation. The two of them are living together as man and wife.

It is urged that the first petitioner's brother and other family members
have not taken kindly to the marriage. It is for this reason that they
have falsely reported the second petitioner and his family members to
the police on allegations that the second petitioner has taken away
the first petitioner, a woman of 25 years, by blandishment. She has,
ex facie, in our opinion, stated that the impugned FIR is an abuse of
the process of the Court and an endeavour by respondent No. 4 to
forcibly separate the couple by misuse of the authority of the police
so that the first petitioner can be taken back to her parents' home.

We are of the opinion that the petitioners are mature persons who are
entitled, under the Constitution and the laws, to marry according to
their choice without hindrance from anyone, including their family
members. The police, by registering the FIR and proceeding with the
investigation, have done a disservice to their own cause and the law.
The impugned FIR, in our opinion, is an abuse of the process of
criminal law.

In the result, the writ petition succeeds and is allowed. The impugned
FIR giving rise to Crime No. 248 of 2025, under Section 87 of BNS,
Police Station Biwar, District Hamirpur, is hereby quashed.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate, Hamirpur, is directed to cause an entry
to be made in the G.D. of the police of District Hamirpur in red ink that
proceedings of Criminal Case No. 248 of 2025, under Section 87
BNSS, stand quashed under the orders of this Court.

Let this order be communicated to the Chief Judicial Magistrate,
Hamirpur, the S.P. Hamirpur and the S.H.O. police station Biwar,
district Hamirpur by the Registrar (Compliance).




May 6, 2026
                                                                    CRLP No. 38 of 2026
                                              3
                                    Sumaira

                                                  (Tarun Saxena,J.) (J.J. Munir,J.)




Digitally signed by :-
SUMAIRA AQUIL
High Court of Judicature at Allahabad

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