Court No. - 51
Case :- HABEAS CORPUS WRIT PETITION No. - 2 of 2019 Petitioner :- Heena Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sunil Kumar Counsel for Respondent :- G.A.,Pradeep Kumar Bhardwaj
Hon'ble Vipin Sinha,J. Hon'ble Ajit Singh,J.
In compliance of the order dated 4.1.2019 by means of which notices were issued to respondent no.4, we find that Sri Pradeep Kumar Bhardwaj has appeared on behalf of respondent no.4.
The Court has been further informed that corpus Heena has been produced before this Court from Nari Niketan, Meerut in custody of lady constable 922 Anita Sharma and Constable Satyapal Singh, Police Lines, Meerut.
Before examining the corpus we find from the record that it has been contended that corpus Heena has been illegally detained at Nari Niketan, Meerut even though she is an adult. In this regard, reliance has been placed on the medical certificate, copy of which has been annexed at page 30, which shows that the age of the corpus is between 18 to 19 years. Reliance has also been placed on annexure-2 which is an information sought under the Right to Information Act from the concerned school which shows that the date of birth of the corpus is 1.2.1997 and thus, it has been contended that even otherwise she is adult and she cannot be detained in Nari Niketan against her wishes. Reliance has also been placed on the statement of the corpus recorded under Section 164 CrPC wherein the corpus has clearly stated herein as under:
"Aaj se lagbhag 6-7 din pahle subah 11.00 baje meri ladai papa se ho gayi thi. Main naraz ho kar akeli ghar me bina kisi ko kuchh bataye Bulandshahar Roadways Adde chali gayi wahan se Khurja Bada Mandir gayi. Wahan main teen din rahi. Main Vinay Kumar Sharma ko janti hun par main inse us din mili bhi nahi thi. Inse mera koi matlab nahi hai. Jis din main gaon se aayi thi Vinay Kumar Sharma apne ghar par the. Bas mujhe itna hi pata hai. Jahan-2 ki bus mili main wahan-2 jati rahi. Kabhi Noida kabhi Ghaziabad mere sath kisi ne kuchh nahi kiya. Main apne ghar apne mummy papa ke paas jana chahti hun. Main Khurje wali didi ke paas hi rahna chahti hun. Mere ghar wale papa bhaiya mujhe maar dalenge."
Learned counsel for the petitioners has also placed reliance upon the order dated 27.11.2018 passed in Criminal Misc. Writ Petition No.33969 of 2018, copy of which has been annexed at page 52 wherein protection was granted to the petitioner Vinay Kumar Sharma.
Contention is that girl being adult cannot be detained in Nari Niketan against her wishes. In this regard, reliance has been placed on the judgments passed in the case of Vishal Jaiswal And Another v. State of U.P. and Others passed on 26.8.2016 in Misc. Bench No. 10724 of 2016 and Shaheen Parveen And Another vs. State of U.P. and Orthrs passed in writ petition no. 3519 (M/B) of 2015 and by the Apex Court in the cases of Lata Singh vs. State of U.P. and another, reported in 2011 (6) SCC 396 (2014) and Shakti Vahini vs. Union of India passed in writ petition (civil) no. 231 of 2010 and Suhani & Another v. State of U.P. & Ors. passed in Civil Appeal No. 4532 of 2018 decided on 26.04.2018. Reliance has also been placed on the order dated 15.6.2018 passed by another Bench of this Court in Habeas Corpus Writ Petition No.3147 of 2018, Kajal Nishad & another vs State of UP & others, copy of which has been annexed at page 56.
It is in this factual background and scenario the Court proceeds to examine the corpus Heena:
On being asked from the girl as to what is her name, she informs that her name is Heena and her father's name is Sri Sirajuddin. On being asked "Vinay Kumar Sharma aap ke kya hain", she informs the Court that "gaon ke naate wo meri bua ke ladke hain". On being further asked that "aap yahan se kahan jaana chahti hain", she informs the Court that "main swatantra mukt hona chahti hun". She further informs the Court that "main baalig hun and kaksha teen tak padhi hun". On being further asked that "aap yahan se apne pita ke paas jana chahengi", she informs the Court that " nahi apne ke pita ke paas nahi jana chahti hun kyon ki wo mujhe maar denge".
Learned counsel appearing for respondent no.4 does not dispute the veracity of the medical certificate as per of which the corpus is adult.
Thus, looking to the statement of the corpus made before this Court and the fact that she is adult as per the medical certificate, the corpus being adult is free to go wherever and with whomsoever she wants to go. She is being set at liberty forthwith from custody.
The habeas corpus writ petition is accordingly allowed.
Order Date :- 27.2.2019 SP