The Constitution of India under Part III, where the fundamental rights are enshrined guarantees every person the right to marry the person of his/her choice. This right guarantees the person to marry irrespective of the Caste or Religion. The only requirement is that both the persons getting married should consent to the marriage. The Karnataka High Court reiterated the above stated proposition in the case of Mr. Wajeed Khan v. The Commissioner of Police & Ors., W.P.H.C. NO. 92 OF 2020.
The facts of the case are that a writ of Habeas Corpus was filed by the petitioner to seek directions to the respondent to produce Kum Ramya G before this court and set her at liberty. The Petitioner is a software engineer at a company where Kum Ramya G works as well and they have fallen in love and have decided to get married. But the parents of Kum Ramya G have not consented to the marriage and have restricted her fundamental right of liberty. The petitioner and her mother have consented to the marriage and have no objection to the marriage.
The Respondents and Kum Ramya G were present before the court and the statements made by the parties were recorded in which Kum Ramya G has consented to the marriage as well and has stated that her right to liberty has been restricted by her parents. The Division bench of the Karnataka High Court presided over by J. S. Sujatha and J. Sachin S Magadum stated that, “It is well settled that a right of any major individual to marry the person of his/her choice is a fundamental right enshrined in the Constitution of India and the said liberty relating to the personal relationships of two individuals cannot be encroached by anybody irrespective of caste or religion.” Further, the court disposed the writ petition and ordered the release of Kum Ramya G from her parents and respect her right of liberty to marry an individual of her choice.
This order is very important in light of recent events where there are talks of Karnataka Government to introduce laws against ‘love jihad’ – in which a law will be introduced which will nullify marriage between a Muslim man and a Hindu women, that are considered as a conspiracy to cause conversion of the Hindu women. Hence, in order to protect the fundamental right of liberty to marry has to be protected and we can observe that the judiciary is making all the efforts to uphold this fundamental right guaranteed under the Constitution.
