Tanisha And Another vs State Of Punjab And Others

Anoop Chitkara, J

Fearing for their lives and liberty at the hands of the private respondents, the pe oners, who claim to have married a er a aining the permissible age for marriage, against the wishes of the private respondents, have come up before this Court by invoking their fundamental rights of life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Cons tu on of India, seeking direc on to the State to protect them.

No ces served upon the official respondents through the State's counsel. Given the nature of the order that this Court proposes to pass, neither the response of official respondents nor the issuance of no ces to the private respondents is required

If the allega ons of apprehension of threat to their lives turn out to be true, it might lead to an irreversible loss. Thus, in the facts and circumstances peculiar to this case, it shall be appropriate that the concerned Superintendent of Police, SHO, or any officer to whom such powers have been delegated or have been authorized in this regard, provide appropriate protec on to the Petitioners for one week from today. However, if the Petitioners no longer require the protec on, then at their request it may be discon nued even before the expiry of one week. A er that, the concerned officers shall extend the protec on on day-to-day analysis of the ground reali es or upon the oral or wri en request of the pe oners.

This protec on is subject to the stringent condi on that from the me such protec on is given, the pe oner shall not go outside the boundaries of the place of residence, except for medical necessi es, to buy household necessi es, and for bereavements in the families of the close rela ves or close friends. However, pe oner(s) shall be at liberty to shi the residence(s) and if the new place falls within the district, then the protec on shall be extended to such place. This restric on saves the pe oner from apprehended risk and ensures that the protec on is not flaunted.

It is clarified that there is no adjudica on on merits and that this order is not a blanket bail in any FIR. It is further clarified that this order shall not come in the way if the interroga on of the Petitioners is required in any cognizable case. It shall also be open for the pe oner(s) to approach this Court again in case of any fresh threat percep on.

This order shall eclipse a er fi een days from today.

There would be no need for a cer fied copy of this order, and any Advocate for the Petitioners and State can download this order and other relevant par culars from the official web page of this court and a est it to be a true copy. The concerned officer can also verify its authen city and may download and use the downloaded copy for immediate use.

Petition is allowed to the extent men oned above. All pending applica ons, if any, stand disposed.