RITU BANGER Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) APPLICATION is allowed subject to all just exceptions. Criminal miscellaneous application stands disposed of. Criminal Misc. No. M-13832 of 2012

(2.) BOTH the petitioners are present in person in the Court and identified by their counsel. The petitioners seek protection to their life and liberty. They have filed the instant petition under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short 'Cr.P.C.') alleging that they being of marriageable age, got married with each other. The petitioners claim that their marriage is legal. The private respondents are not accepting the marriage of the petitioners alleging it to be against the social norms. The petitioners tried to persuade their parents and relatives but remained unsuccessful in their endeavour. The private respondents, it is alleged, are hell-bent to separate the petitioners from each other by resorting to illegal Criminal Misc. No. M- 13832 of 2012 (O&M) -2- means. Thus, it has been pleaded that the petitioners are apprehending imminent danger to their life and liberty from the private respondents. Having been left with no other option, it has become the compulsive necessity for the petitioners to approach this Court.

(3.) THE issue involved in the present case is a short one, that is to say, seeking only the protection to the life and liberty of the petitioners. This issue, in fact, is no more res-integra. THE law, in this regard, has been laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India, in a catena of judgments including in the cases of A.K.Gopalan versus State of Madras, AIR 1950 SC 27, Kartar Singh versus State of Punjab (1994) 3 SCC 569 and Lata Singh versus State of UP & anr. 2006 (3) RCR (Criminal) 870, which has been followed by this Court in the case of Pardeep Kumar Singh versus State of Haryana 2008 (3) RCR (Criminal) 376. three decades after A.K.Gopalan's case (supra) the Hon'ble Supreme Court further widened the scope of Article 21, in the case of Maneka Gandhi versus Union of India, (1978) 1 SCC 248 thereby widening the scope of the law laid down in the A.K.Gopalan's case (supra). THEreafter, the Hon'ble Supreme Court, in long series of subsequent decisions, went on to explore the true meaning of the word "Life" in Article 21 and the recent one was rendered by the Constitution Bench in State of West Bengal & others versus Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights & others (2010) 3 SCC 571. I have heard the learned counsel for the petitioners and with his able assistance, have gone through the record of the case. After giving my thoughtful consideration to the facts and circumstances of the case, this Court is of the considered opinion that the instant one is a fit case for exercising the inherent jurisdiction under Section 482 Cr.P.C. Article 21 of the Constitution of India, protects the most precious right of every citizen, it being the Right to life. In view of the constitutional mandate and the law laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the cases of A.K.Gopalan, Maneka Gandhi, Kartar Singh and Lata Singh (supra) followed by this Court in many cases including Pardeep Kumar Singh's case (supra), the petitioners are entitled to seek the protection to their life and liberty. It is also equally important to note that freedom of the individual is not absolute but subject to the established and time tested social norms of a civilised society. Co-existence of freedom of the individual and social control is sine-qua-non for the sustainable Criminal Misc. No. M- 13832 of 2012 (O&M) -4- progress of the society and this is also the integral part of our constitutional philosophy. THErefore, though the petitioners are entitled for protection to their life and liberty in the given facts and circumstances of the present case but at the same time, it is also expected from them and other young citizens like them that before running away from their homes for performing this type of 'rebellion marriage', they must think twice, besides, listening carefully to their respective parents who are not their enemies but real well wisher. Let us welcome the dynamic social change and evolution but only subject to the social control and moral values which are centuries old and have not lost their shine even today.