Love is blind and stronger than love of parents: Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court allowed a girl who eloped and married her lover to stay with him

"Love is blind and more powerful weapon than the love and affection of the parents, family members and the society at large,” a division bench headed by Justice B Veerappa observed in a recent judgment while dismissing the habeas corpus petition filed by the father of a teenage girl.

The petition was filed by One T L Nagaraju, a resident of Malavalli taluk in Mandya district, seeking direction from the police to produce his daughter who was studying engineering at G Madegowda Institute of Technology (GMIT) at Mandya.

It was revealed that she had eloped with a van driver, who was assigned the duty of dropping the girl students from the hostel to the college. The K M Doddi police had summoned the couple to the station. The petitioner claimed that the police did not allow him to interact with his daughter.

He claimed that his daughter was not in a fit state of mind to decide things and suspected that she might have been forced into marriage against her will.

During the hearing, the court was informed that the couple was on the court premises. When presented before the court, Nagaraju’s daughter denied the charges made by her father and claimed that she is in a sound state of mind and physically fit. When the court further posed questions, Nagaraju’s daughter said they got married at Bandimakalamma Temple in Anekal Taluk and are residing at Chikka Arashinakere.

“The right to marry a person is one’s choice is an integral part of Article 21 of the constitution. The constitution guarantees the right to life. This right cannot be taken away except through a law which is substantively and procedurally fair, just and reasonable. Intrinsic to the liberty that the constitution guarantees as a fundamental right is the ability of each individual to make decisions on matters central to the pursuit of happiness. Matters of belief and faith, including whether to believe are at the core of constitutional liberty,” the court said.