The court quashed Habeas Corpus filed by the husband contending that his wife was illegally confined by her father: High Court of Kerala
The High Court of Kerala, through the learned judges, Justice K. Vinodchandran & Justice C. Jayachandran, in the case Sharafudheen V.T v. State of Kerala & Ors. (WP(CRL.) NO. 425 OF 2022) quashed a Habeas Corpus filed by the husband, contending that his wife was illegally confined by her father
BRIEF FACTS OF THE CASE: The petitioner, Sharafudheen V.T and the alleged detenue in the case, his wife, belonged to different religions, and they registered their marriage under the Special Marriage Act without informing their parents. It was alleged by the petitioner that since 12.5.2022, his wife had not been contacting him and that she was illegally confined by her father. The petitioner filed a complaint before the police, but there was no response. Hence, the petitioner filed the Habeas Corpus writ petition before the High Court for relief. As per the order issued by the court, the statements of the alleged detenue were recorded by a Woman Civil Police Officer, without the presence of her parents or any other family members. The detenue stated that she was apprehensive of her safety at the house of the petitioner and that she was not under any illegal detention by her parents. Even when the alleged detenue expressed that she desired to live with the petitioner, she feared that the petitioner’s parents would ill-treat her.
JUDGEMENT: The court remarked that the alleged detenue was ambivalent in her stand, and she prevaricates between her desire to be with the petitioner on the one hand and her serious apprehension and fear of being ill-treated by the parents of the petitioner, on the other hand. The court dismissed the petition observing that since the detenue was categoric in her statement and not under any illegal detention of her parents, there was no ground to issue a writ of habeas corpus.
JUDGEMENT REVIEWED BY – AMRUTHA K