Allahabad High Court Criticizes UP Police for Harassing Couples, Quashes Kidnapping FIR
The Allahabad High Court strongly criticized the Uttar Pradesh Police for registering criminal cases against young couples and interfering in their personal lives at the behest of disapproving family members.
The judgment, delivered on April 21, 2026, by a Division Bench comprising Justice JJ Munir and Justice Tarun Saxena, came in a petition seeking the quashing of a kidnapping FIR filed by the father of a 19-year-old woman who had married a man of her choice.
Court Criticizes Police Overreach
The Bench expressed serious concern over what it described as a growing pattern of police overreach in matters involving consenting adults:
“We find a disturbing trend these days where the Police, as in the present case, are registering FIRs and chasing couples virtually investigating marriages, instead of investigating crimes with which their hands are full. They are wasting their time in business which is not their’s. On account of these indiscretions by the Police, our dockets also swell with cases that are really not causes worth coming to Court, but become so on account of the Police taking actions at the stage of registration of the FIR and post that event which they ought not have done at all.”
The Court emphasized that such actions not only misuse police resources but also unnecessarily burden the judiciary.
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Right to Choose a Life Partner Reaffirmed
Reiterating constitutional principles, the Bench underscored the importance of respecting the autonomy of adults:
“The Constitution does not permit an adult, whatever be the relationship, to dominate or rule over the will of another adult, who is a major under the law,”
The judges stressed that once individuals attain majority, their decisions regarding marriage and personal life must be respected by family and authorities alike.
FIR Termed Illegal Intrusion into Personal Liberty
The case arose from allegations that the woman had been abducted. However, the Court noted that the couple had voluntarily married in December 2025 at Shiv Mandir, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, and had been living peacefully since then.
Observing that the father could at most have filed a missing person report, the Court held:
“Nevertheless, the impugned FIR, that is a cognizable case, has been registered and the Police are chasing the couple,”
The Bench went on to declare the FIR a violation of the couple’s fundamental rights:
“No one has business to tell a major, where he or she will stay, or with whom he or she will live, marry or spend his or her life,”
Calling the FIR “a serious inroad” into personal liberty, the Court quashed the case.
Directions to Police and Complainant
The Court further observed that police actions in such cases may sometimes be driven by ulterior motives to separate couples and return women to their parental homes, stating that:
Such actions are “absolutely illegal” and may even constitute offences.
Accordingly, the Bench directed the Director General of Police (DGP), Uttar Pradesh, to take corrective measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents, warning that judicial intervention may follow if necessary.
Additionally, the complainant (the woman’s father) was restrained from interfering in the couple’s matrimonial life:
The Court ordered that he must not enter their home or disturb their peaceful life in any manner.
Representation
The petitioners (the couple) were represented by Advocates Ashish Kumar and Shivam Kumar Shukla.
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