The Delhi High Court has held that the right to marry a person of one’s choice is constitutionally protected and family members cannot object to such matrimonial ties, Live Law reported on Thursday.
While hearing a petition by a couple allegedly facing threats from the woman’s family after they got married, Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said that the state is under a constitutional obligation to protect its citizens. He also said that the court is expected to further the petitioners’ constitutional rights.
He noted that the petitioners were adults and granted them police protection to “ensure that no harm befalls either of them, particularly, from the parents or the family members”.
The court also directed the police to provide the petitioners with contact details of local police officers. The beat officers are required to contact them every day for the next two months to ensure that they are unharmed, reported Bar and Bench.
The couple told the court that they got married in April against the wishes of their parents and have been living together. In August, a coordinate bench quashed a first information report filed by the woman against the man after she stated that she had been forced by her family to file the false case.
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