Smt. Vishakha Tiwari Thru. Her Husband, Mr. Ashwini Kumar v. State of U.P. Thru. Prin. Secy. Home, Lucknow and Others

Court No. - 16 Case :- HABEAS CORPUS WRIT PETITION No. - 174 of 2024 Petitioner :- Smt. Vishakha Tiwari Thru. Her Husband, Mr. Ashwini Kumar Respondent :- State Of U.P. Thru. Prin. Secy. Home, Lucknow And Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Girija Shankar Tripathi,Pradeep Kumar Shukla Counsel for Respondent :- G.A. Hon'ble Shamim Ahmed,J. Sri Pankaj Kumar Tiwari, Advocate has put in appearance on behalf of the respondent nos.4 & 5 by filing vakalatnama, which is taken on record. Heard Sri Girija Shankar Tripathi, learned counsel for the petitioner as well as Sri Ashok Kumar Singh, learned A.G.A.-I for the State alongwith Sri Pankaj Kumar Tiwari, learned counsel for the respondent nos.4 & 5 and perused the record. The instant writ petition has been filed seeking issuance of writ, order or direction in the nature of Habeas Corpus commanding and directing the opposite parties to produce the petitioner (detenue) before this Hon'ble High Court and she may be set at liberty under the care and custody of her husband. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the marriage of the Smt. Vishakha Tiwari (the detenue) and Ashwini Kumar (the next friend of the detenue) was solemnized on 25.06.2022 and they were living happily. However, the parents of the detenue had illegally detained the corpus alongwith them and they are not allowing the detenue to come back to her husband. On the other hand, learned A.G.A.-I for the State as well as learned counsel for the respondent nos.4 & 5 submit that the detenue is not under illegal custody as she is willingly living with her parents and respondent no.4 is father of the detenue whereas respondent no.5 is mother of the detenue. He further submits that it cannot be said that the major daughter living with her parents after marriage is under illegal detention. The detenue is major and she is free to live anywhere she wants on her own sweet will. They further submit that if the detenue is legally wedded wife and she is not coming from her parents' house to live with the next friend, Ashwini Kumar, then he has a remedy to file a suit under Section 9 of the The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 before the appropriate forum but not the present petition of Habeas Corpus for custody of wife claiming that she is under illegal detention. After hearing learned counsel for the respective parties, this Court finds that the detenue is not under illegal custody as she is willingly living with her parents and respondent no.4 is father of the detenue whereas respondent no.5 is mother of the detenue and it cannot be said that the major daughter living with her father after marriage is under illegal detention as the detenue is major and she is free to live anywhere she wants on her own sweet will. With the above observations, the instant writ petition is disposed of with liberty to the petitioner to avail remedy as available under Section 9 of the The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 to file a suit before the appropriate forum. Order Date :- 4.7.2024 Saurabh High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench