Allahabad High Court Slams Police Interference In Personal Liberty, Rebukes Police For "Investigating Marriages" Instead Of Crimes
The Court noted that such "indiscretions" not only infringe upon constitutional rights but also unnecessarily increase the burden on the judiciary.
Justice J.J. Munir, Justice Tarun Saxena, Allahabad HC
The Allahabad High Court expressed serious concern over the increasing tendency of the police to register FIRs against consenting adult couples who marry against their families' wishes.
The Bench observed that the police are wasting valuable time "investigating marriages" and chasing couples instead of focusing on actual crimes.
The Division Bench of Justice JJ Munir and Justice Tarun Saxena observed, “We find a disturbing trend these days where the Police, as in the present case, are registering FIRs and chasing couples virtually investigating marriages, instead of investigating crimes with which their hands are full. They are wasting their time in business which is not their's. On account of these indiscretions by the Police, our dockets also swell with cases that are really not causes worth coming to Court, but become so on account of the Police taking actions at the stage of registration of the FIR and post that event which they ought not have done at all. A message should also go out now to every citizen in the country that the age of majority has to be respected and so also the constitutional culture. The Constitution does not permit an adult, whatever be the relationship, to dominate or rule over the will of another adult, who is a major under the law.”
Advocate Ashish Kumar appeared for the Petitioners, while Advocate Akhilesh Kumar appeared for the Respondents.
A writ petition was filed seeking to quash the impugned FIR filed under Section 87 of B.N.S., 2023. The petitioners contended that they had married according to Hindu rites on December 10, 2025, in Dehradun. To support this, they produced a marriage certificate, photographs of the ceremony, and a registration certificate issued by the Government of Uttarakhand. Furthermore, the High School certificate of the first petitioner confirmed her date of birth as January 19, 2007, establishing beyond doubt that she was a major at the time of the marriage.
The petitioners, who lived together as husband and wife, appeared before the Court and filed a joint affidavit. To ensure the first petitioner's safety and intent, the Court recorded her statement in person. She explicitly stated that she was living with her husband by choice and refused to return to her father’s house.
The Court observed that the first petitioner was an adult capable of making her own life decisions. It was noted that the impugned FIR, lodged at the instance of her father, constituted a serious interference with the personal liberty of the couple. The Court emphasized that no third party or authority had the right to dictate where a major should reside or whom they should marry.
The Court said, “Of course, the case of a child, who is not a major, is different. The Police are doing great dis-service by registering FIRs such as these, and more than that, chasing the young couple, sometime with ulterior motive to forcibly separate them and send back the bride to her parents or her family. These actions are absolutely illegal and some of them are offences.”
It was directed to the Director General of Police, U.P. and the Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Government of U.P., Lucknow, to take remedial actions in this regard.
Accordingly, the Court allowed the petition and quashed the FIR.
Cause Title: XXXX v. State of U.P. & Ors. [Neutral Citation: 2026:AHC:88279-DB]
Appearances:
Petitioner: Advocates Ashish Kumar, Shivam Kumar Shukla
Respondent: Advocate Akhilesh Kumar