Allahabad HC Wraps UP Police for Holding Interfaith Couple 'Illegally', Orders Their Release

Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has pulled up the Uttar Pradesh Police for the "illegal detention" of an interfaith couple without any order for taking them into custody and directed their release.In compliance with an order of the high court, police on Saturday produced the couple -- taken into custody after they left the court premises on October 15 -- before a bench of Justices Salil Kumar Rai and Divesh Chandra Samant.The bench termed the custody of Shane Ali and Rashmi "illegal" due to the absence of any direction or order to that effect, and directed that the interfaith couple be released forthwith.Noting that the woman was a major and police could not have taken her into custody without a direction from a competent authority. The bench said

that the move violated her fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution.The bench, which held a special hearing on a holiday, directed that the woman is free to go wherever she wants with the second petitioner (the man).The court also directed the investigating officer from the Akrabad police station in Aligarh, who produced the couple in the court on Saturday, to ensure that both the petitioners are safely escorted to the place of their choice."The plea that the girl had to be kept at a 'one stop centre' and the man with whom she wanted to live be detained at the police station because of tension in the area due to different religions of the parties is not acceptable and cannot justify the detention of the aforesaid persons," the bench noted.It said a person can be detained by police or other state authorities only under the law and asserted that a detention under social pressure but without the authority of law does not make it legal.In a democratic country governed by the rule of law, the state government and its law-enforcement machinery are expected to use their power to protect the liberty of a citizen, and not succumb to social pressures, it said."The officers who failed in their duty to protect the liberty of the boy and the girl are liable to department action," the court said.The bench also directed the Prayagraj police commissioner, Aligarh SSP, and Bareilly SSP to ensure the safety and security of the couple so that there is no extra legal interference in their companionship.Fixing November 28 as the next of hearing, the bench directed the Aligarh SSP to appear before the court with an inquiry report.The writ petition filed by the interfaith couple sought the quashing of an FIR dated September 27, which was registered at the Akrabad police station by the father of the woman.On Friday, the court directed police to produce the couple after being informed that they were "abducted" by the woman's father and police soon after they left the court premises on October 15.