Right to marry person of choice a fundamental right, says Karnataka high court

December 2: The Karnataka high court has said that the right to marry a person of choice is a fundamental right. The court judgement came on Monday on a habeas corpus petition filed by a resident of Bengaluru.

“It is well settled that the right of any major individual to marry the person of his/her choice is a fundamental right enshrined in the Constitution of India and the said liberty relating to the personal relationships of two individuals cannot be encroached by anybody irrespective of caste and religion,” the bench said, as reported by the Hindustan Times.

Wajeed Khan, a software engineer by profession, had approached the high court last week for the release of his lover Ramya G from home confinement. Ramya is also a software engineer and Khan’s colleague at the company where he works.

The woman was produced before the court during the hearing, where she told the bench of justices S Sujata and Sachin Shankar Magadum that her right to liberty was being infringed by her parents who were against her marriage to Khan.

However, Khan’s mother claimed no objections to the matrimony.

Ramya told the court that she has been staying at an NGO after a complaint filed by her at a family dispute resolution forum named Janodaya Santwana Kendra. The forum is set up by the department of women and child welfare development.

The court ordered that Ramya should be released.

The judgement comes in the backdrop of two similar judgements by Allahabad high court and Delhi high court. The Allahabad high court had earlier held the right of a person to live with the individual of their choice irrespective of the religion practised by them, and constituted it as intrinsic to the right to life and personal liberty.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/right-to-marry-person-of-choice-a-fundamental-right-says-karnataka-high-court/story-ZVpvG8hpXeeWxKDb3JUxFK.html