Anoop Chitkara, J
1. Fearing for their lives and liberty at the hands of the private respondents, the petitioners who claim to have married after attaining 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 Constitution of India, seeking direction to the State to protect them.
2. Notices 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 notices to the private respondents is required.
3. If the allegations 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 protection to the petitioners for one week from today. However, if the petitioners
no longer require the protection, then at their request it may be discontinued even before the expiry of one week. After that, the concerned officers
shall extend the protection on day-to-day analysis of the ground realities or upon the oral or written request of the petitioners.
4. This protection is subject to the stringent condition that from the time such protection is given, the petitioners shall not go outside the boundaries of
the place of residence, except for medical necessities, to buy household necessities, and for bereavements in the families of the close relatives or close
friends. However, petitioner(s) shall be at liberty to shift the residence(s) and if the new place falls with the district, then the protection shall be
extended to such place. This restriction saves the petitioners from apprehended risk and ensures that the protection is not flaunted.
5. It is clarified that there is no adjudication 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 interrogation of the petitioners is required in any cognizable case. It shall also be open for the petitioner(s) to approach this
Court again in case of any fresh threat perception.
6. This order shall eclipse after thirty days from today.
7. There would be no need for a certified copy of this order, and any Advocate for the Petitioners and State can download this order and other
relevant particulars from the official web page of this court and attest it to be a true copy. The concerned officer can also verify its authenticity and
may download and use the downloaded copy for immediate use.
Petition is allowed to the extent mentioned above. All pending applications, if any, stand disposed.
