1 wp1306.10.sxw IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL WRIT PETITION NO. 1306 OF 2010 Mr. Yashwant Vitthal Kule ....Petitioner. Vs. Mr. Vasant Vithoba Marge & Ors. ....Respondents. Ms. Padma V. Tatode, for the Petitioner. Mr. Kishor Pashte, for Respondent Nos. 1 and 3. Mr. A.S. Gadkari, APP for the State. CORAM : B.H. MARLAPALLE & ANOOP V. MOHTA, JJ. DATE : 23rd July, 2010 P.C.: 1 The Petitioner is a permanent resident of village Khandar, Taluka Roha in Raigad District. He is a distant cousin of Shweta, who is the daughter of Respondent No.1. Shweta is over 22 years of age and the Petitioner was, while working at Mumbai, staying with the family of Respondent No.1 for the last more than 13 years. The Petitioner and Shweta got married and the marriage has been registered on 29/01/2010. Both of them approached the Sion Police Station on 02/02/2010 and informed that they had performed marriage which was registered and they are husband and wife. They went to the village of the Petitioner, where Respondent Nos. 1 and 2 also reached. It is the allegation of the Petitioner that he was man-handled and Shweta was taken away from his custody. 2 wp1306.10.sxw 2 He further alleges that Respondent No.1 called for a community Panchayat (Kunbi Panchayat) on 14/02/2010 at village Chanere and the Panchayat disapproved the marriage of the Petitioner with Shweta and further decided to impose a penalty of Rs.5,00,000/- (Rupees five lacs only) on him. He further alleges that his parents were asked to leave the village and they are still staying at the agricultural land owned by the family. It is under these circumstances, he approached this Court seeking a writ of habeas- corpus so as to have a custody of his wife. 3 As directed by us, the Petitioner and Shweta were present before us and we talked to them in-camera on 21/07/2010. The marriage between the parties, is not disputed but now Shewta has decided to dissolve the marriage and therefore, she has filed Petition No. 454 of 2010 in the Family Court at Mumbai praying for dissolution of the marriage with the Petitioner and/or to seek a divorce. The Petitioner has received a notice in the said Petition and he is required to appear before the Family Court so as to file his reply on 6th September, 2010. 4 The Petitioner has informed us that if Shweta wants a divorce and she does not want to co-habit with him, he has no objection and he will not force her. He would appear before the Family Court and sign consent terms 3 wp1306.10.sxw for obtaining divorce by mutual consent under Section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act. He is more worried about the penalty of Rs.5,00,000/- as imposed by the Kunbi Panchayat and the safety and security of his parents in the village. To free him from this fear in future, we directed the Police Inspector, from Roha Police Station to remain present before us. Mr. S.D. Jadhav, Police Inspector from Roha Police Station is present in the Court and we have been assured that he would take all preventive measures to ensure the safety and security of the Petitioner’s parents and that the Kunbi Panchayat or any of its representatives will not take law in their hands to recover such a fine. In our opinion, such an alleged act of the Kunbi Panchayat to impose a fine of Rs.5,00,000/-, because the Petitioner got married to a girl who is a distant cousin from the maternal side, has no sanctity in law and therefore, it will be necessary for the Police Inspector to ensure that the Petitioner is not called upon to pay such an amount in future, and his parents are not harassed or tortured. 5 We have noted down the undertaking of the Petitioner that he would appear before the family court and Shweta and he will jointly submit the consent terms seeking divorce by mutual consent on the next date i.e. on 6th September, 2010. He has also assured that while the Petition is pending before the Family Court, he will not in any way disturb Shewta. Respondent No.1 who is present before us has also assured us that he or 4 wp1306.10.sxw any of his relations will not act in any manner which will otherwise cause any problem to the Petitioner or his family. 6 We have noted down the undertaking of both the parties as well as the assurance of Mr. S.D. Jadhav, Police Inspector, Roha Police Station and we dispose off the Petition accordingly. 7 The parties to act on an authenticated copy of this order. (ANOOP V. MOHTA, J.) (B.H.MARLAPALLE, J.)