The Allahabad High Court has directed the Superintendent of Police in Jaunpur to explain why local police officers continue to summon the father of a married man, despite investigators already filing a final report in an alleged abduction case involving the adult couple.
A division bench consisting of Justice J. J. Munir and Justice Achal Sachdev issued the order on June 30, observing that law enforcement personnel appear to maintain a persistent focus on couples marrying of their own accord, despite clear judicial directives to focus on crime rather than marriages.
The matter dates back to a 2024 petition in which the couple sought protection following an abduction First Information Report registered against the husband. During the 2024 proceedings, another bench noted the couple’s statements that they were consenting adults who had married voluntarily and had applied online to register their marriage. The court had subsequently restrained police from arresting them, on the condition that they cooperate with the ongoing inquiry.
While the police eventually concluded their investigation and submitted a final report in the case, officers continued to summon the husband’s father. Observing prima facie that the woman is an adult who chose to marry of her own free will, the bench issued a formal notice to the officers involved.
The court has ordered the Jaunpur Superintendent of Police to explain the conduct of these officers when the matter is heard alongside the connected writ petition. The Chief Judicial Magistrate of Jaunpur has been tasked with officially communicating the high court’s order to both the Superintendent of Police and the local station house officer.
Concerns Over Systemic Police Conduct
This directive follows similar criticisms leveled by the high court earlier this year regarding the police administration’s handling of consensual marriages. On April 21, a separate bench comprising Justice J. J. Munir and Justice Tarun Saxena quashed an abduction case filed by a woman’s father against a young married couple.
In that ruling, the bench highlighted what it termed a troubling trend of police departments registering cases and pursuing couples, effectively investigating marriages instead of addressing actual crimes.
The court declared that third parties have no right to dictate where or with whom an adult chooses to live. The bench further warned that registering such unlawful cases does a disservice to the public, adding that such actions are illegal and could, in certain cases, constitute offenses by the officers themselves.
