Gujarat High Court orders woman’s custody to be handed to husband after dramatic interfaith marriage
Right-wing groups had disrupted an interfaith couple’s marriage registration proceedings at Ahmedabad’s Gheekanta sub-registrar office, despite a court directive to have the marriage registered.
The Gujarat High Court directed that the police should ensure that the marital life of the petitioner and his wife 'are in no way harmed by any person'. (File Photo) The Gujarat High Court on Friday directed a state home for women to hand over custody of a 21-year-old woman to her husband, a day after right-wing groups disrupted their interfaith marriage registration and hours after their wedding was solemnised under the Special Marriage Act with the court’s intervention.
With the order, the high court closed a habeas corpus proceeding initiated by the husband in March this year. The case had seen weeks of hearings and compelled the state machinery to protect the rights of the interfaith couple against the intimidation by right-wing groups.
After the advocate for the petitioner informed the court that their marriage registration had been disrupted on Thursday due to protests by Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal activists, a special division bench of Justices N S Sanjay Gowda and D M Vyas spent considerable court time ensuring the marriage was solemnised on Friday.
The high court then passed an order directing the state women’s home to release the woman into her husband’s custody.
A day earlier, right-wing groups had disrupted the interfaith couple’s marriage registration at Ahmedabad’s Gheekanta sub-registrar office, forcing the couple to return despite a court directive to have their marriage registered.
The high court order states, “It is reported that the marriage between the corpus and the petitioner has been solemnised under the Special Marriage Act… the corpus would be entitled to stay with the petitioner.”
The court also made clear that the state’s responsibility did not end with the wedding. In a pointed reminder to law enforcement, the bench directed that “the concerned police shall ensure that the marital life of the petitioner and the corpus are in no way harmed by any person”.
On Friday, the high court bench had orally questioned why two adults needed police protection to get married. After Public Prosecutor Hardik Dave assured the court that instructions had been conveyed to senior police officials of deputy commissioner of police rank in Ahmedabad, the young couple walked into the marriage registrar’s office and solemnised their marriage.
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