Hindu-Muslim couple: Madhya Pradesh HC rejects family’s habeas corpus plea after noting woman is a major
Court finds no wrongful confinement; woman’s autonomy upheld after she states she does not wish to return to parents
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has declined to pass any order on a habeas corpus petition filed by the family of a Hindu woman who refused to live with her parents, noting that she is a major and not in any wrongful confinement. The Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf disposed of the petition after the woman confirmed her decision to leave her parental home of her own free will and expressed no desire to return.
A previous bench had sent the woman to a One Stop Centre for “safe custody” because she had not married her Muslim partner, holding she could not live with him without marriage. On the subsequent hearing, the woman reiterated her independent choice, leading the Chief Justice’s bench to affirm her rights as an adult and to reject further directions on the family’s plea.
Advocate Hritvik Dixit represented the petitioner, and Advocate Anubhav Jain appeared for the State.