"We Don`t See Priyanka, Salamat As Hindu-Muslim": Big Court Verdict In UP

Allahabad: Allahabad High Court has thrown away a case filed against a Muslim man by the parents of his wife, who converted from Hinduism to Islam last year to marry him.

The right to choose a partner irrespective of caste, creed or religion is intrinsic to the constitutional right to life and personal liberty, the high court held, adding that two previous judgments that objected to religious conversion for the purpose of marriage didn’t lay down good law.

The bench, comprising justice Pankaj Naqvi and justice Vivek Agarwal, was hearing a petition by Salamat Ansari and Priyanka Kharwar alias Alia to quash a police complaint against them by the woman’s father.

The petitioners contended they were both majors and competent to choose their life partners.

The court agreed with the petitioners, both residents of Kushinagar district.

“We do not see Priyanka Kharwar and Salamat as Hindu and Muslim, rather as two grown-up individuals who out of their own free will and choice are living together peacefully and happily over a year,” the bench held.

“An individual on attaining majority is statutorily conferred a right to choose a partner, which if denied would not only affect his/her human right but also his/her right to life and personal liberty, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India,” observed the bench.

The decision by the two-judge bench, delivered on November 11 but made public on Monday, may pose a legal problem for the Uttar Pradesh government, which is planning a law to regulate interfaith relationships on the basis of the two previous judgments that were both delivered by single-judge benches.