Court No. - 1
Case :- HABEAS CORPUS WRIT PETITION No. - 2920 of 2018 Petitioner :- Prem Sheela Through Her Husband Sameer Ahmad @ Salman Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Prabhakar Dubey Counsel for Respondent :- G.A.
Hon'ble Ramesh Sinha,J. Hon'ble Krishna Pratap Singh,J.
Sri Vijay Prakash Chaturvedi, Advocate has filed power on behalf of respondent no. 4 which is taken on record.
Heard Sri Prabhakar Dubey, learned counsel for the petitioner, Sri Vijay Prakash Chaturvedi, learned counsel for the private respondent and Sri Ashsih Pandey, learned A.G.A. for the State.
This petition has been filed by the petitioner with a prayer to direct the respondent no. 3 to produce the corpus-petitioner before this Court and release her after recording the statement for going anywhere according to her wishes.
On 07.03.2018 this Court has passed the following order:-
"Heard Sri Prabhakar Dubey, learned counsel for the petitioner and Sri Vikas Sahai, learned A.G.A. for the State.
Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that as per High School Certificate the victim Prem Sheela is a major as her date of birth is 13.11.1999 which is evident from her statement recorded u/s 164 Cr.P.C. The victim had earlier filed Habeas Corpus Writ Petition No.55133 of 2017 through her mother-in- law as her husband was in jail at that time. Thereafter in pursuance to the order dated 20.11.2017 passed by this Court in the said petition, her statement u/s 164 Cr.P.C. was recorded. The husband of the victim has already got himself bailed out, but the learned Magistrate sent her to Nari Niketan where she is at present confined as the victim belong to another community and there was chances of communal tension. He submits that the victim is a major and her detention in Nari Niketan is illegal. In support of his arguments, he has further placed reliance on the judgment of the Apex Court as well as this Court in the case of Smt. Parvati Devi vs. State of U.P.
reported in 1992 All. Crl. Cases 323 and Smt. Renu Maurya and another vs. State of U.P. and another reported in 2014 (86) ACC 128.
Issue notice to respondent no.4 returnable within two weeks. Steps be taken within one week.
The respondent no.3, Superintendent, Nari Niketan, Gorakhpur is directed to produce the petitioner (corpus), namely, Smt. Prem Sheela before this Court on 27.3.2018.
List this case on 27.03.2018.
Copy of the order may be issued to learned A.G.A. free of cost for its compliance."
In compliance of this Court's order dated 07.03.2018, the corpus-petitioner Smt. Prem Sheela is produced by respondent no. 3 before this Court today in police custody and on a query being made, she has stated that she wants to go with her husband Sameer Ahmad @ Salman, who has filed the present petition.
Considering the submissions advanced by learned counsel for the parties and taking into account the fact that as per the statement of the corpus-petitioner, she voluntarily gone with Sameer Ahmad @ Salman and further she is major girl as her date of birth is 13.11.1999 which has not been disputed by learned counsel for respondent no. 4 and from a perusal of the order passed by Ist Additional Session Judge, Siddharth Nagar dated 3.1.2018 it appears that the mother of the corpus- petitioner has also moved an application for seeking her custody but she refused to go with her but as the corpus- petitioner belong to another community and there was possibility of communal tension in the district the the Magistrate sent the corpus-petitioner to Nari Niketan. As the corpus-petitioner is a major girl and in her statement recorded under section 164 Cr.P.C. she has not alleged anything against Sameer Ahmad @ Salman, who has already got himself bailed out in the F.I.R. which was lodged by respondent no. 4, with whom she expressed her desire to go, the corpus-petitioner is set at liberty to go in accordance with her own wishes. The impugned order dated 26.10.2017 and 03.01.2018 passed by court below sending the corpus-petitioner in Nari Niketan is hereby set aside.
Let the corpus -petitioner Smt. Prem Sheela who is produced before this Court today shall be taken back to the Nari Niketan from where she shall be set at liberty by respondent no. 3 to go according to her wishes.
Accordingly, the present petition is allowed.
Registrar General shall ensure that petitioner leave the premises of the Court safely.
SSP, Allahabad shall ensure that the petitioner is taken back to Nari Niketan from where she has been brought in police custody, if she along with police personnel who have brought her approach for adequate security.
(Krishna Pratap Singh,J.) (Ramesh Sinha,J.) Order Date :- 27.3.2018 A.K.Verma