Citations for anticipatory bail for kidnapping

Pardeep Kumar Singh versus State of haryana 2008 (3) RCR (Criminal) 377. entirely on the same facts.

 PLS GO THROUGH THE BELOW  IT MAY HELP FOR THE GROUNDS FOR THE ABOVE CITATION :-

The Supreme Court recently ruled that there is no bar on inter-caste or inter-religion marriages under the Hindu Marriage Act. Anyone who harasses, threatens or subjects such a couple to acts of violence will be prosecuted

The Delhi High Court judgment in the Ravi Kumar versus State 124 (2005) DLT 1 case dealt with girls above 15 and below 18 years of age getting married of their own free will and the registration of criminal cases against the husband, and custody of the girl. The recent judgment in the Lata Singh case (Lata Singh versus State of UP 2006 (6) SCALE 583), delivered by the Supreme Court on July 7, 2006, deals with the inter-caste marriage of a woman who was indisputably a major, and extreme harassment through the use of the criminal justice delivery system.

After the sudden death of her parents, Lata Singh stayed with her brother Ajay Pratap Singh in Lucknow. She finished her intermediate in 1997 and graduated in 2000. There was no controversy regarding her age, and the fact that she was a major was not in dispute. On November 2, 2000, Lata Singh left her brother's house of her own free will and got married to Brahmanand Gupta at the Arya Samaj Mandir in Delhi. Brahmanand Gupta ran a business in Delhi and elsewhere.

Lata Singh's brothers Ajay Pratap Singh, Shashi Pratap Singh and Anand Pratap Singh were furious that Lata had gone in for an inter-caste marriage. They went to her husband's parental home, beat up his mother, threw out the furniture, utensils etc, and put a lock on the house. They locked one of Gupta's brothers up for four or five days without food or water. They took possession of Gupta's agricultural field and illegally harvested the crop. Gupta's shop in Badan Singh market in Rangpuri, was also forcibly taken over by the brothers. In addition, they lodged a false report of kidnapping and wrongful concealment or confinement of an abducted person against Lata's husband and his relatives at the Sarojini Nagar police station in Lucknow.

In a clear case of caste bias and muscle power, the police, instead of arresting Lata Singh's brothers, arrested Mamta Gupta and Sangeeta Gupta -- Lata's husband's sisters -- and Rakesh Gupta (Mamta's husband) on December 17, 2000. At the time Mamta had a one-month-old child. The police also arrested Kallu Gupta, a cousin of Lata's husband. All the arrested were jailed and refused bail. Lata's brothers threatened to kill her husband and his relatives. They also threatened to kidnap and kill their sister. Gupta's entire family was afraid to remain in Lucknow.

Lata Singh and her husband fled to Jaipur, where they lived in fear of their lives. They ran from pillar to post trying to save Gupta, and stop his relatives from being harassed.

Lata Singh approached the Rajasthan Women's Commission in Jaipur, where her statement was recorded and forwarded to the superintendent of police (SP), Lucknow, for necessary action. The president of the commission also wrote to the National Human Rights Commission and the chief secretary, Uttar Pradesh, for their intervention in the matter.

A final report was submitted by the SHO, Sarojini Nagar police station, Lucknow, before the judicial magistrate, which stated that the accused persons had not committed any offence. The sessions judge, Lucknow, observed that neither had there been an offence, nor were the accused involved in any offence. The judge released the accused on bail on May 16, 2001. By this time, Gupta's sisters, brother-in-law and cousin had already spent around six months in jail. The SP informed the National Human Rights Commission that all the accused had been released on bail.

The investigating officer (IO) recorded Lata Singh's statement on May 28, 2001, for which armed security was provided. The chief judicial magistrate, Lucknow, recorded Lata's statement under oath: that she had married Brahmanand Gupta of her own free will. In spite of her statement, and the police report that no offence had been committed by any of the accused, the magistrate committed the case for trial.

Lata's brothers had apparently filed a petition against the report submitted by the police, alleging that their sister was not mentally fit. Lata was subsequently examined by a board of doctors at the Psychiatric Centre, Jaipur, who stated that she was not suffering from any mental illness.

The fast-track court in Lucknow issued non-bailable warrants against all the accused (Gupta's sisters, brother-in-law and cousin). In a petition against the warrants, the Allahabad High Court directed that the accused appear before the sessions judge who would scrutinise whether they had committed any offence. The matter is still pending before the sessions judge.

At this stage, Lata Singh filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court asking that the trial for kidnapping and illegal confinement, pending before the Lucknow High Court and arising out of the FIR filed by her brothers, be quashed. Lata submitted that she could not visit Lucknow, as she feared for her life and the lives of her husband and small child. That her brothers had assaulted, humiliated and irreparably harmed her husband's entire family. That her brothers had forcibly taken over her husband and his family's property, including the house, shops and agricultural land. In addition, her brothers were continuing to issue death threats to her, her husband and their child, as well as her husband's relatives.

The Supreme Court concluded that there was no dispute that Lata Singh was, at all relevant times, a major. That "she was free to marry anyone she likes or live with anyone she likes". Noting that there was no bar to inter-caste marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act, the court observed that it was difficult to see what offence Lata Singh, her husband or his relatives could be said to have committed.

The court held that no offence had been committed by any of the accused. The whole criminal case was declared to be an abuse of the process of the court as well as of the administrative machinery, at the instance of Lata Singh's brothers who were furious at her having entered an inter-caste marriage. The judgment notes that instead of taking action against Lata Singh's brothers for their unlawful and highhanded acts, the police had proceeded against her husband and his relatives.

Observing that several such instances take place, the court declared that "this is a free and democratic country, and once a person becomes a major he or she can marry whomsoever he/she likes". If the parents of the boy or girl do not approve of an inter-caste marriage or inter-religious marriage, the maximum they can do is cut off social relations. They cannot harass, threaten or commit or instigate acts of violence against persons who undergo an inter-caste or inter-religious marriage.

The judgment directs the administration and police authorities throughout the country to ensure that if any boy or girl who is a major enters into an inter-caste or inter-religious marriage with a woman or man who is a major, the couple are not harassed or subjected to threats and violence. The police should institute criminal proceedings against persons who threaten, harass, commit or instigate acts of violence on people who decide on inter-caste or inter-religious marriages.

Applying the law, the court quashed the criminal proceedings in the sessions trial pending in the fast-track court arising out of the FIR filed by Lata Singh's brothers at the Sarojini Nagar police station in Lucknow. Warrants against relatives of the husband were also quashed. Criminal proceedings were directed to be instituted against Lata Singh's brothers for the acts of violence committed by them. In addition, the police was directed to ensure that, in future, Lata Singh, her husband and his relatives were not harassed or threatened, and that no acts of violence were committed against them.

thank you sir , the info was very useful,,,,,,,,thanks a lot