Kochi | The Kerala High Court has directed the state government and police to ensure that the young girl who shot to fame during the Prayagraj Kumbh Mela is not handed over to the Madhya Pradesh police or anyone else without the court's order.
The direction was issued by Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas after the court was informed that the the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes has directed the State Police Chief of Kerala to hand over the girl to the Madhya Pradesh police immediately.
The High Court said the commission was neither a court nor a tribunal or even an adjudicatory body and prima facie only has recommendatory powers.
Therefore, it cannot issue any directions that touches upon the right to life of an individual, it said.
The HC was also of the view that the commission's order indicates that the girl's apprehension of threat to her life was "bonafide and imminent".
"The jurisdiction of the said Commission to issue an order to ensure that the petitioner (girl) is escorted from Kerala to Madhya Pradesh is doubtful. This is all the more so when this court is in seisin of the claim of the petitioner that her right to life and liberty is being attempted to be infringed upon by various persons.
"This court is, hence, of the view that petitioner's apprehension of threat to her life is bonafide and imminent," the High Court said.
The court directed the state government to instruct the police, including the Commissioner of Police, Kochi City, within whose jurisdiction the girl resides, to ensure that she is not removed from there without orders from the High Court and against her will, until disposal of her plea seeking protection for her life.
"The respondents (state and police) shall ensure that appropriate protection is granted to the petitioner and she shall not be handed over to any person, including the police from Madhya Pradesh, without getting orders from this court," it said.
The court further said that as and when the girl, who has gone into hiding, or her authorised representative contacts the Women Protection Officer assigned to ensure her safety, the respondents "shall ensure that adequate and effective police protection be provided to the petitioner for her life and also to ensure she is not removed from the jurisdictional limits of Kochi, Kerala".
The court listed the matter for further hearing on August 4.
The commission's order had come on a plea by a social worker from Uttar Pradesh, alleging that the girl was a minor and that an inter-religious marriage had taken place.
The girl's husband, Farman, is accused of kidnapping her in a case registered by Madhya Pradesh police based on a complaint lodged by her father, who has claimed that she is a minor.
With a captivating smile and beautiful eyes, the Indore girl had shot to fame after a virtual content creator shared a video of her selling rudraksh garlands at Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh last year.
She married Farman in Kerala, in the presence of senior CPI(M) leaders, despite her family's opposition.
However, her family later claimed that she was a minor, leading to Farman being booked by Madhya Pradesh police for various offences, including kidnapping, under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 and the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
