Affidavit On Marital Status Must In Protection Pleas Filed By Couples : P&H High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has recently directed that the High Court Registry must ensure that before any protection plea is adjudicated upon, affidavits of both the petitioners disclosing their marital status must first be taken on record.

The Court was adjudicating upon a petition moved by a married couple seeking protection of their life on the ground that the couple had got married against the wishes of their parents and thus apprehended threat to their life and liberty.

Justice Arvind Singh Sangwan passed the direction after it came to the notice of the Court that the male petitioner Bhupinder Singh had not filed any affidavit before the Court and that he had also wilfully concealed the fact that he had been married earlier.

"Petitioner No. 2 Bhupinder Singh has filed a false affidavit by concealing his marital status and by stating that it is the first marriage of both the petitioners in para 10 of the petition as well as in the affidavit of petitioner No. 2, however, a perusal of the petition shows that no affidavit has been filed by petitioner No. 2", the Court recorded in its order.

It was also submitted by the counsel appearing on behalf of the private respondents that Bhupinder Singh had earlier been married to one Ruby daughter of Ram Pal, resident of Mohalla Ramdaspur, District Jalandhar. Photographs and marriage certificate in this regard were also placed before the Court. The marriage certificate revealed that the said marriage had taken place on May 10, 2015 at Gurdwara Shri Amar Darbar, Shergarh Katcha Road, Hoshiarpur.

It was also pointed out to the Court that a case had been registered against the male petitioner under Section 376(2) IPC (gang rape) and that he was currently facing trial. This information had also been concealed in the petition.

Justice Sangwan noted that the High Court vide an earlier order dated September 25, 2020 had directed all SHOs to keep a check over the registers maintained by all the Pandits/Granthis, who are performing such type of marriages and verify that a declaration is made by both the persons that they are unmarried.

"However, it appears that the instant marriage certificate (Annexure P-3) has been prepared by the Granthi of Gurdwara Guru Nanak Niwas Sahib, village Karor Kalan, Tehsil Kharar, District Mohali without following the instructions", the Court opined.

Accordingly, the SHO, Police Station Kathgarh, District S. B. S. Nagar was directed to take appropriate action in this regard at the earliest.

The Court also sought an explanation from the Registry within a period of 7 days as to how such a petition was allowed without taking on record the concerned affidavits of the parties.

"The Registry is directed to explain as to how this petition was passed without there being the affidavits of both the petitioners", the Court directed.

Accordingly, the petition was disposed of.

Case Title: Harwinder Kaur and Another v. State of Punjab and others

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