PATNA: The daughter of a retired district and sessions judge from Bihar, who was allegedly confined by her parents for having an affair with a Delhi-based Supreme Court (SC) lawyer, heaved a sigh of relief on Thursday when the Patna high court allowed her to decide her future, ruling that her fundamental rights could not be taken away by anyone.Soon after the division bench of Chief Justice (CJ) Rajendra Menon and Justice Rajeev Ranjan Prasad passed the order, the girl told TOI that she wanted to marry the advocate and pursue her career as per her wish.Web portal ‘Bar & Bench’ had published a report on June 22 that the girl (24), a law graduate from Chanakya National Law University (CNLU) in Patna, was allegedly thrashed and confined by her parents after they came to know about her affair with the SC lawyer.On June 23, the HC took suo motu cognisance of the report after which the girl was escorted to Patna on June 26 by a special police team. Incidentally, the judge retired on June 27. The girl was produced before court and she accepted that her parents had thrashed and confined her. The court ordered CNLU to give her shelter at the university guesthouse.The amicus curiae in the case, Anukriti Jaipuriyar, said the girl had not changed her decision even after a fortnight. “She told the court she is set to marry the advocate in Delhi and his parents have accepted her. Patna SSP Manu Maharaaj has been asked to take possession of all her educational and professional documents from her parents and uncle within two days and file an FIR if they don’t comply with the court’s order,” Jaipuriyar said.Supreme Court advocate Rajeev Kumar Srivastava, who flew down to Patna from Delhi for representing the Delhi lawyer, also his junior, said the girl’s parents were rapped by the court for their behaviour. “The court gave full liberty to the girl for taking her decisions,” he said and added his junior had also sent an affidavit to the girl’s father, saying he did not want a single penny from his property.The girl further said, “I have a job interview with a law firm in Delhi on July 16 for which I need my documents. I am looking forward to a bright career and am ready to marry the advocate.”The SC lawyer said he would leave Patna and go to Delhi with the retired judge’s daughter in a couple of days.

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