(K. Vinod Chandran and N.V. Anjaria, JJ.)
Amninder Kaur and Another ________________________ Appellant(s);
v.
State of Punjab and Others ________________________ Respondent(s).
Criminal Appeal No. 253 of 2011, decided on September 4, 2025
The Order of the court was delivered by
Order
1. A writ petition filed by a couple who eloped, to protect them from the threats levelled by their parents, was dismissed. The dismissal was based on the submission made by respondent No. 4, the father of the 1st petitioner that the marriage asserted by the petitioners was punishable under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006. The 4th respondent lodged FIR No. 235 dated 22.10.2009 under Sections 363/366-A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) at Police Station Patran, District Patiala against petitioner No. 2.
2. The impugned order of the High Court is challenged seeking consideration of three issues; as to, whether the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act would be applicable to the State of Punjab, whether the State is duty bound to protect the life and liberty of a couple who are being implicated in false cases at the behest of the girl’s parents and whether the marriage between a 18 year old and 16 year old can be declared as illegal and invalid, especially when the girl has passed the age of consent.
3. We directed the learned Government Advocate to get instructions as to the present status of the petitioners. It is informed that the first petitioner has remarried twice and living happily with her present husband. There is, hence, no threat as of now and the question of the marriage being legal or not also does not survive. In this context, the applicability of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act also pales into insignificance, as far as the facts of this case are concerned.
4. The criminal appeal is hence allowed, setting aside the impugned judgment and the findings in it and closing the writ petition as infructuous. The legal issue raised can be answered in a suitable case, which for that purpose is left open.
5. We make it clear that FIR No. 235 dated 22.10.2009 under Sections 363/366-A of the IPC at Police Station Patran, District Patiala against petitioner No. 2 shall not be proceeded with.
6. Pending applications, if any, shall stand disposed of.
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Criminal Appeal No. 253/2011
Amninder Kaur & Anr.….Appellant(s)
Versus
The State of Punjab & Ors.….Respondent(s)
UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following
ORDER
Criminal Appeal is allowed in terms of the signed order placed on the file.
Pending application(s), if any, shall stand disposed of.
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