‘Police chasing couples instead of probing crimes’: Allahabad High Court’s stern warning to UP cops

Justices J J Munir and Tarun Saxena

‘Great disservice’

In strong observations directed at the police administration, the court said that police were doing a disservice by registering such FIRs, as such actions were illegal and in some cases could amount to offences.

“The Police are doing a great disservice by registering FIRs such as these, and more than that, chasing the young couple, sometimes with an ulterior motive to forcibly separate them and send back the bride to the parents or her family. These actions are absolutely illegal, and some of them are offences,” the court said.

It further observed that these indiscretions were swelling court dockets with avoidable litigation.

“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,” the Allahabad High Court remarked.

The Allahabad High Court directed the Director General of Police, Uttar Pradesh, and the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) to take remedial steps, warning that the court may be compelled to intervene otherwise.

Allowing the petition, the court quashed the FIR and directed that an entry in red ink be made in the police station’s general diary, noting that the proceedings had been quashed.

It also issued a mandamus restraining the woman’s father and other respondents from entering the couple’s matrimonial home or disturbing their peaceful married life.

FIR

• The FIR alleged that the 18-year-old woman went away with a man and his brother in a car. It was stated by the woman’s father he could not find her despite searching for her.
• The court, however, said that he could have filed a missing persons report.
• “Possibly the only report that the informant could have made in a case like this was a missing report to trace out the whereabouts by saying that his daughter had gone missing. There was no occasion to register a crime. Nevertheless, the impugned FIR, that is a cognizable case, has been registered and the Police are chasing the couple,” the court said.
• The Allahabad High Court further verified her age through her high school certificate, confirming that she was a major.
• The bench also took note of documents showing that the couple had married according to Hindu rites in 2025. A marriage certificate issued by the Government of Uttarakhand, along with photographs of the ceremony, was placed on record.
• The Allahabad High Court noted that the young couple are staying peacefully together as husband and wife, which is supported by a joint affidavit of both the petitioners. The court held that the FIR lodged by the father was a serious inroad into the personal liberty of the couple.