LATA SINGHversusSTATE OF U.P. AND ANR.

A                                   LATA SINGH
                                           v.
                            STATE OF U.P. AND ANR.

                                    JULY 7, 2006

B               [ASHOK BHAN AND MARKANDEY KATJU, JJ.]


           Abuse of the process of Law-Inter-caste marriage by major girl-
     Brothers ofthe girl assaulted and humiliated the family and harmed the property
C   ofthe husband of the girl--Relatives of the husband arrested and detained in
    jail by the police on complaint from the brothers of the girl-On Intervention
    of Women Commission and National Human Rights Commission, final report
    by Police that no offence was committed by the accused-Committal of case
    by Magistrate for trial despite the final report and statement of the girl that
    she had married of her own free will-High Court, in petition for quashing the
D   proceedings directed the accused to appear before trial court-Writ petition
    by the girl-Held: No offence was committed by any of the accused-The
    whole criminal case was an abuse of the process of the Court as well as
    administrative machinery-Direction to institute criminal proceedings against
    the brothers of the girl.
E        Inter-caste marriage-Harassment of the couple-Cognizance taken by
    Supreme Court-Directions issued to administration-Constitution of India,
    I950-Article 32.

          Petitioner married a person who was from a different caste than that
F   of her, on her own will. At that time she was major. The brothers of
    petitioner lodged a missing person report as a result of which police
    arrested relatives of the husband of the petitioner. Brothers of petitioner
    also lodged a police report alleging kidnapping of the petitioner by her
    husband and his relatives due to which the relatives of her husband were
    arrested and detained in Lucknow jail. Her brothers assaulted, humiliated
G   and harmed the entire family of her husband and their properties. Their
    properties including the house and agricultural lands and shops were
    forcibly taken over by the brothers of the petitioner and the lives of the
    petitioner and her husband were in threat. Therefore, she was staying in
    hiding. On intervention of Rajasthan Women Commission and National
H   Human Rights Commission, police submitted a final report mentioning
                                         350
                        ~ATA SINGH v. STATE OF U.P.                        351
therein that no offence was committed by any of the accused persons and            A
consequently the accused were enlarged on bail by the Sessions Court. A
protest petition was filed against the final report alleging that the petitioner
was not mentally fit. After her medical examination, she was found to be
mentally fit. Thereafter Magistrate recorded the statement of the petitioner
u/s. 164 Cr.P.C. wherein despite her statement that she had married her            B
husband of her own free will, committal order was passed ignoring the
fact that police had already filed a final report. Again non-bailable
warrants were issued against the accused. In the petition filed by the
accused u/s. 482 Cr.P.C. , accused were directed to appear before the trial
Court and that it would scrutinize whether the accused committed any
offence or not.                                                                    c
      Petitioner filed the present Writ Petition praying for issuing a writ
of certiorari and/or mandamus for quashing the Sessions Trial.

      Allowing the writ petition, the Court
                                                                                   D
       HELD: I. There is no dispute that the petitioner is a major and was
at all relevant times a major. Hence she is free to marry anyone she likes
or live with anyone she likes. There is no bar to an inter-caste marriage
under the Hindu Marriage Act or any other Law. No offence was
committed by any of the accused and the whole criminal case in question
is an abuse of the process of the Court as well as of the administrative           E
machinery at the instance of the petitioner's brothers who were only
furious because the petitioner married outside her caste. Instead of taking
action against the petitioner's brothers for their unlawful and high-handed
acts, the police has instead proceeded against the petitioner's husband and
his relatives. In view of the allegations in the petition, criminal proceedings    F
shall be instituted forthwith by the concerned authorities against the
petitioner's brothers and others involved in accordance with law.
                                                            1355-B-D; 356-F-G I

      2. Since several such instances are coming to knowledge of the Court
of harassment, threats and violence against young men and women who                G
marry outside their caste, the administration/police authorities throughout
the country arc directed to see to it that if any boy or girl who is a major
undergoes inter-caste or inter-religious marriage with a woman or man
who is a wajor, the couple are not harassed by any one nor subjected to
threats or acts of violence, and any one who gives such threats or harasses
or commits acts of violence either himself or at his instigation, is taken to      H
    352                      SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2006] SUPP. 3 S.C.R.

A task by instituting criminal proceedings by the police against such persons
    and further stern action is taken against such persons as provided by law.
                                                                   1355-E; 356-A-Cj

         CRIMINAL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION                     Writ Petition (Criminal)
    No. 208 of 2004
B
          (Under Article 32 of the Constitution of India.).

         Sakesh Kumar, Yogmaya Agnihotri and Rameshwar Prasad Goyal for
    the Appellant.

C         Reena Singh for Jatinder Kumar Bhatia for the Respondents.

          The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

          MARKANDEY KAT JU, J. This writ petition under Article 32 of the
    Constitution of India has been filed with a prayer for issuing a writ of certiorari
D   and/or mandamus for quashing the Sessions Trial N'J. 1201 of 2001 under
    sections 366 and 368 of the lnd!an Penal Code arising out of FIR No. 336
    of 2000 registered at Police Station Sarojini Nagar, Lucknow and pending in
    the Fast Track Court V, Lucknow.

          The facts of the case are as under:
E
           The petitioner is a young woman now aged about 27 years who is a
    graduate and at the relevant time was pursuing her Masters course in Hindi
    in the Lucknow University. Due to the sudden death of her parellts she
    started living with her brother Ajay Pratap Singh at LOA Colony, Kanpur
F   Road, Lucknow, where she did her intermediate in 1997 and graduation in
    2000.

         It is alleged by th1e petitioner that on 2.11.2000 she left her brother's
    house of her own free will and got married at Arya Samaj Mandir, _Delhi to
    one Bram ha Nand Gupta who has business in Delhi and other places and they
G   have a child out of this wedlock.

          Thereafter on 4.11.2000, the petitioner's brother lodged a missing person
    report at Sarojini Nagar Police Station, Lucknow and consequently the police
    arrested two sisters of the petitioner's husband along with the husband of one
    of the sisters and the cousin of the petitioner's husband. The persons arrested
H   were Mamta Gupta, Sangita Gupta (sisters of Brahma Nand Gupta), as well
          LATA SINGH v. STATE OF U.P. [MARKANDEY KATJU. J.]                  353

as Rakesh Gupta (husband of Mamta Gupta) and Kallu Gupta cousin of the               A
petitioner's husband. Mamta was in jail with her one month old child.

        It is further alleged that the petitioner's brothers Ajay Pratap Singh,
 Shashi Pratap Singh and Anand Pratap Singh were furious because the
 petitioner underwent an inter-caste marriage, and hence they went to the
 petitioner's husband's paternal residence and vehemently beat up her husband's      B
mother and uncle, threw the luggage, furniture, utensils, etc. from the house
and locked it with their lock. One brother of the petitioner's husband was
allegedly Jocked in a room by the petitioner's brothers for four or five days
 without meals and water. The petitioner's brothers also allegedly cut away
the harvest crops of the agricultural field of the petitioner's husband and sold     C
 it, and they also took forcible possession of the field. They also lodged a
.false police report alleging kidnapping of the petitioner against her husband
 and his relatives at Police Station Sarojini Nagar, Lucknow, due to which the
 sisters of the petitioner's husband, and the husband of one of the sisters, were
arrested and detained in Lucknow jail. The petitioner's brothers also illegally
took possession of the shop of the petitioner's husband. The petitioner's            D
 husband has a shop at Badan Singh Market, Rangpuri in the name of Gupta
 Helmet Shop whose possession was forcibly taken over by her brothers.

      It is further alleged that the petitioner's brothers are threatening to kill
the petitioner's husband and his relatives, and kidnap and kill her also. The
Gupta family members are afraid of going to Lucknow out of fear of violence          E
by the petitioner's brothers, who are of a criminal bent.

       It is alleged that the petitioner's husband and relatives have been falsely
framed by her brothers Shashi Pratap Singh, Ajay Pratap Singh and Anand
Pratap Singh who were furious because of the inter-caste marriage of the             F
petitioner with Bram ha Nand Gupta. Mamta Gupta. Rakesh Gupta and Sangita
Gupta were arrested on 17.12.2000, whereas Kallu Gupta was arrested on
02.12.2000. It is alleged that the three relatives of the petitioner's husband
were not granted bail for a long time .and their lives got ruined though there
was no case against them that they instigated the petitioner to get married to
Bramha Nand Gupta. It is also alleged that the petitioner ran from pillar to         G
post to save her husband and relatives from harassment and she then
approached the Rajasthan Women Commission, Jaipur, as she was staying in
Jaipur almost in hiding apprehending danger to her and her husband's life.
The Commission recorded her statement on 13.3.200 I and the same was
forwarded to the Superintendent of Police (City). Lucknow for necessary              H
    354                       SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. 3 S.C.R.

A action. The President of the Rajasthan State Women Commission also wrote
    a letter to the National Human Rights Commission on 13.3.2001 requesting
    the Commission and the Chief Secretary, Government of Uttar Pradesh, to
    intervene in the matter.

          A final report was submitted by the SHO, Police Station Sarojini Nagar,
B   Lucknow before the· learned Judicial Magistrate inter-alia mentioning that no
    offence was committed by any of the accused persons and consequently the
    learned Sessions Judge, Lucknow enlarged the accused on bail on furnishing
    a personal bond on 16.5.2001 by observing that neither was there any offence
    nor were the accused involved in any offence. The Superintendent of Police,
C   Lucknow informed the National Human Rights Commission that all the
    accused persons have been released on bail on 17.5.200 I.

           Thereafter the Investigating Officer recorded the statement of the
    petitioner Lata Gupta @ Lata Singh on 28.5.2001 and for this purpose armed           '   '

    security was provided to her. The learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Lucknow
D   recorded the statement oft~1e petitioner under section 164 Cr.P.C. on 29.5.2001.
    In that statement the petitioner stated that she married Bramha Nand Gupta
    of her own free will. Despite this statement, the learned Chief Judicial
    Magistrate, Lucknow passed the committal order on 5. 10.2001 ignoring the
    fact that the Police had already filed a final report in the matter.

E         It appears that a protest petition was filed against the final report of the
    Police alleging that the petitioner was not mentally fit. However, the petitioner
    was medically examined by the Board of Doctors of Psychiatric Centre,
    Jaipur, who have stated that the petitioner was not suffering fron, any type
    of mental illness.
F         The Fast Track Court, Lucknow before whom the case was pending
    issued non-bailable warrants against all the four accused, and against the
    order of the Fast Track Court, the accused filed a petition under section 482
    Cr.P.C. in the Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench) which was registered
    as Crl. Misc. No. 520/2003. The High Court directed the accused to appear
G   before the Sessions Judge who would himself scrutinize whether the accused
    committed any offence or not. The matter is still pending.

          The petitioner alleged that she cannot visit Lucknow as she apprehends
    danger to her life and the lives of her husband and small child. She has
    further alleged that her brothers have assaulted, humiliated and irreparably
H   harmed the entire family members of her husband Bramha Nand Gupta and
          LATA SINGHv. STATE OF U.P. [MARKANDEY KATJU, J.]                   355
their properties, and even the remote relatives were not spared and were · A
threatened to be killed. Their properties including the house and agricultural
lands and shops were forcibly taken over by the brothers of the petitioner and
the lives of the petitioner and her husband are in constant danger as her
brothers have been threatening them.

      We have considered the above facts and have heard learned counsel for          B
the petitioner and the learned counsel for the State Government.

       This case reveals a shocking state of affairs. There is no dispute that the
petitioner is a major and was at ali relevant times a major. Hence she is free
to marry 1anyone she likes or live with anyone she likes. There is no bar to
an inter-caste marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act or any other law.               c
Hence, we cannot see what offence was committed by the petitioner, her
husband or her husband's relatives.

       We are of the opinion that no offence was committed by any of the
accused and the whole criminal case in question is an abuse of the process D
of the Court as well as of the administrative machinery at the instance of the
petitioner's brothers who were only furious because the petitioner married
outside her caste. We are distressed to note that instead of taking action
against the petitioner's brothers for their unlawful and high-handed acts (details
of which have been set out above) the police has instead proceeded against
the petitioner's husband and his relatives.                                        E
       Since several such instances are coming to our knowledge of harassment,
threats and. violence against young men and women who marry outside their
caste, we feel it necessary to make some general comments on the matter.
The nation is passing through a crucial transitional period in our history, and
this Court cannot remain silent in matters of great public concern, such as the      F
present one.

      The caste system is a curse on the nation and the sooner it is destroyed
the better. In fact, it is dividing the nation at a time when we have to be
united to face the challenges before the nation unitedly. Hence, inter-caste G
marriages are in fact in the national interest as they will result in destroying
the caste system. However, disturbing news are coming from several parts of
the country that young men and women who undergo inter-caste marriage,
are threatened with violence, or violence is actually committed on them. In
our opinion, such acts of violence or threats or harassment are wholly illegal
and those who commit them must be severely punished. This is a free and H
    356                      SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. 3 S.C.R.

A democratic country, and once a person becomes a major he or she can marry
    whosoever he/she likes. If the parents of the boy or girl do not approve of
    such inter-caste or inter-religious marriage the maximum they can do is that
    they can cut off social relations with the son or the daughter, but they cannot
    give threats or commit or instigate acts of violence and cannot harass the
    person who undergoes such inter-caste or inter-religious marriage. We,
B   therefore, direct that the administration/police authorities throughout the
    country will see to it that if any boy or girl who is a major undergoes inter-
    caste or inter-religious marriage with a woman or man who is a major, the
    couple are not harassed by any one nor subjected to threats or acts of violence,
    and any one who gives such threats or harasses or commits acts of violence
C   either himself or at his instigation, is taken to task by instituting criminal
    proceedings by the police against such persons and further stern action is
    taken against such persons as provided by law.

           We sometimes hear of 'honour' killings of such persons who undergo
    inter-caste or inter-religious marriage of their own free will. There is nothing
D   honourable in such killings, and in fact they are nothing but barbaric and
    shameful acts of murder committed by brutal, feudal minded persons who
    deserve harsh punishment. Only in this way can we stamp out such acts of
    barbarism.

           In the circumstances, the writ petition is allowed. The proceedings in
E Sessions Trial No. 1201/2001 titled State of UP. v. Sangi/a Gupta & Ors.,
    arising out of FIR No. 336/2000 registered at Police Station Sarojini Nagar,
    Lucknow and pending in the Fast Track Court V, Lucknow are quashed. The
    warrants against the accused are also quashed. The police at all the concerned
    places should ensure that neither the petitioner nor her husband nor any
p   relatives of the petitioner's husband are harassed or threatened nor any acts
    of violence are committed against them. If anybody is found doing so, he
    should be proceeded against sternly in accordance with law, by the authorities
    concerned .

          . We further direct that in view of the allegations in the petition (set out
G above) criminal proceedings shall be instituted forthwith by the concerned
    authorities against the petitioner's brothers and others involved in accordance
    with law. Petition allowed.

    K.K.T.                                                   Writ Petition Allowed.