DEVU G. NAIR Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Leave Granted.

(2.) These proceedings under Article 136 of the Constitution arose from the interim orders of the Kerala High Court dtd. 13/1/2023 and 2/2/2023 in a petition seeking a writ of habeas corpus.

(3.) The appellant and the 'corpus' ('X' for convenience of reference) are both female According to the appellant, they were in an intimate relationship. The petition seeking a writ of habeas corpus was instituted on the ground that the 'X' was being forcibly kept by her parents in their custody whereas she wished to remain with the appellant. On 13/1/2023, at the stage of admission, the Kerala High Court ordered the Secretary of the jurisdictional District Legal Services Authority[1] to visit the fourth and fifth respondents who are the parents of 'X', and record her statement to ascertain if she was under illegal detention. The High Court further directed that in the event that 'X' is in illegal detention, the Station Head Officer of the jurisdictional Police Station must ensure that 'X' is produced before the Secretary, DLSA to facilitate an interaction with the High Court through a video conferencing session. The parents of 'X' were allowed to join and remain present during the video conferencing session.