A division bench of the high court said that the liberty to marry a person of choice irrespective of caste and religion is a fundamental right.
On a matter of interfaith relationship, the Karnataka high court has come out to uphold the fundamental right of any individual to marry the person of their choice.
A division bench of the high court comprising Justices S Sujatha and Sachin Shankar Magadum, while disposing of a habeas corpus plea, said, "It is well settled that a right of any major individual to marry the person of his/her choice is a fundamental right enshrined in the Constitution of India and the said liberty relating to the personal relationships of two individuals cannot be encroached by anybody irrespective of caste or religion."
The petition was filed by HB Wajeed Khan, a Bengaluru-resident, who approached the court seeking directions to produce his colleague Ramya G, a software engineer, and set her at liberty.
Ramya was produced before the court on November 27 along with her parents, where she said that her parents were infringing on her right to liberty by their opposition to her marriage with Wajeed.
She was staying at an NGO called Mahila Dakshatha Samithi, Vidyaranyapura, after lodging a complaint with the Janodaya Santwana Kendra, a family dispute resolution forum set up by the department of women and child welfare development, she said.
While Wajeed's mother said that she had no objection to their marriage, it was Ramya's parents who did not give their consent.
The bench noted that the plea was limited to producing Ramya in the court but also observed, "Ramya G, being a software engineer, is capable of taking a decision regarding her life. The Mahila Dakshata Samithi is directed to release her forthwith."
It is a reassertion of observations on marriage rights made earlier by the Allahabad and Delhi high courts. It takes particular relevance in the context of the Uttar Pradesh law on 'love jihad', which the Karnataka government planned to emulate.
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