In a significant ruling this past Saturday, October 18, 2025, the Allahabad High Court vehemently criticized the Uttar Pradesh police for what it deemed the “illegal” detention of an interfaith couple. The court highlighted that such detention constitutes a blatant “violation of their fundamental rights,” emphasizing that succumbing to “social pressure” without proper legal authority only exacerbates the illegality of the act.
Justices Salil Kumar Rai and Divesh Chandra Samant convened a special hearing, even on a holiday, to address the matter. They promptly ordered the release of the couple — a Muslim man and a Hindu woman — who had disappeared last week after a previous court appearance. Furthermore, the Bench instructed the police to guarantee the couple’s safety and prevent any unauthorized or extra-legal meddling in their relationship.
The incident originated from an FIR filed by the woman’s father, who claimed his ‘minor’ daughter had been abducted by a man named Shane Ali. Following this complaint, the Aligarh police apprehended the couple. However, when brought before a lower court, the woman asserted her adulthood and stated she had married Mr. Ali out of her own free will.
A habeas corpus petition led to the couple’s appearance before the High Court on Saturday. There, they testified that they had been forcibly taken to Aligarh by the woman’s father and his associates, allegedly with police complicity. Since October 15, the woman had been held at a ‘One Stop Centre,’ while the man was detained at a police station.
In response to the court’s inquiry regarding the detention, the government advocate argued that the police acted due to social tension in the area sparked by the inter-religious marriage. Nevertheless, the court firmly rejected this justification, pointing out that since the woman was an adult, neither the police nor her father possessed the authority to hold her in custody.
The Bench declared, “The custody of the parties by the police was unequivocally illegal and constituted a violation of the fundamental rights of both the girl and petitioner no. 2 (the man) guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.” It further stated that the argument for detaining the couple at a ‘One Stop Centre’ and police station due to “social tension” arising from their differing religions was “unacceptable” and could not legitimize their confinement.
The court reiterated that in a democratic nation, the primary role of the State government and its law enforcement agencies is to safeguard the liberty of citizens, not to capitulate to societal pressures and thereby restrict individual freedoms.
Concluding its judgment, the High Court emphasized that “The officers who failed in their duty to protect the liberty of petitioner no. 2 as well as the girl are liable to departmental action.” It subsequently ordered the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Aligarh to conduct a thorough inquiry into the case and submit a report within one month.