Jammu and Kashmir High Court: The High Court recently addressed a petition wherein the petitioner argued that despite her having attained the age of majority and marrying the 2nd petitioner out of her own free will without any undue coercion, the respondents were harassing her with the help of the Police along with wrongfully framing them in false cases.
The Court referred to Lata Singh v. State of U.P., (2006) 5 SCC 475 which held that if a woman has attained the age of majority, she is free to marry whoever she wants to provided that person has attained the age of majority as well. It clarified, “There is no bar to an inter-caste marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act or any other law. The caste system is a curse on the nation and the sooner it is destroyed the better. In fact, it is dividing the nation at a time when we have to be united to face the challenges before the nation unitedly. Hence, inter-caste marriages are in fact in the national interest as they will result in destroying the caste system”. It was further held in this case, “In our opinion, such acts of violence or threats or harassment are wholly illegal and those who commit them must be severely punished”. Thus, the Court directed the Police to take appropriate steps to ensure the protection and liberty of the petitioners. [Zubida Akhter v. State of Jammu and Kashmir, 2017 SCC OnLine J&K 712, order dated 15.11.2017]
