Delhi Police pulled up for separating inter-faith couple
New Delhi, July 29 : The Delhi High Court has slammed Delhi Police for forcibly separating an inter-faith couple despite knowing well that the Muslim woman is above 21 years and had married the Hindu man of her own free will.
A bench of Justice S. Muralidhar and Justice Vinod Goel has sought an explanation from Delhi Police over allegations that they kept the husband in the police lock-up from July 3 to 5 without presenting him in any court.
The court order came while hearing a habeas corpus filed by the man who was seeking the wife's whereabouts.
The couple got married in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, on June 28, 2018 and then started residing at the man's residence at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus in New Delhi.
On July 3, at around 8 p.m., policemen accompanied by JNU security personnel and others in civilian clothes forcibly took away the woman and handed over the man to police, who was taken to Loni police station in Ghaziabad and kept in the lock-up for three days.
The man alleged that he was abused and beaten in custody and threatened he would be implicated in a false case of rape if he tried to reunite with his wife.
The police action came after a complaint was lodged at Loni police station by the woman's brother that his sister was missing.
The court has asked the police to explain how it proceeded to act on the complaint received from the woman's brother despite knowing that she was an adult and entitled to take her own decisions.
The bench met the young woman in the chamber. She told the judges that she had married the man of her own choice and the marriage was registered at Ghaziabad.
To ensure that there was no untoward or unpleasant incident hereafter, the court has directed the police to provide security to the couple as well as their family and listed the matter for further hearing on August 7.
The bench spoke to the young woman's mother and explained to her that although she may have reservations about her daughter's marriage to someone from a different religion, the latter is entitled to make her choices as she was an adult.
The girl's mother told the court that it would be up to her daughter to decide what she wanted to do with her life.
As the young woman wished to return to her husband, the bench gave her the permission to unite with her husband who was also present in the courtroom.
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IPL first phase schedule announced amid travel concerns caused by war in West Asia
New Delhi (PTI): Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2026 opener in Bengaluru on March 28 as the BCCI announced the first phase of the tournament schedule amid concerns around players' travel arrangements due to the ongoing West Asia conflict.
All matches scheduled at the Chinnaswamy Stadium remain subject to clearance from the Karnataka government appointed expert committee, which is scheduled to meet on March 13 to assess venue preparedness in the wake of the deadly stampede at the stadium last season.
The BCCI announced the schedule of the first 20 games on Wednesday and will unveil the full schedule once the dates of elections in three states -- Tamil Nadu, Assam and West Bengal -- are announced.
Besides the state elections, the escalating conflict in West Asia will also be at the forefront of BCCI officials' minds. The war has wreaked havoc to international travel with operations of major airports like Doha and Dubai being heavily restricted.
As a result of that, some of the squad members of South Africa and West Indies are yet to reach home a week after the completion of their T20 World Cup campaign.
It remains to be seen if IPL bound players of those two nations report to their respective teams in time.
"There was a substantial delay in departure of West Indies and South Africa players. It would be a tough task to get them back to India on time. Plus the airfares have gone up substantially due to the war in West Asia," a team official told PTI.
Additionally, hotels across India are facing cooking gas shortage due to the raging conflict and on Tuesday, the central government invoked Essential Commodities Act to ensure uninterrupted supply of domestic cooking gas.
Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanthan told PTI that he is expecting his players from the West Indies and South Africa -- Akeal Hossein and Dewald Brevis, to join the team well before their IPL opener.
"We are expecting no delays from their end," he said.
The second game of the opening weekend will see Mumbai Indians host Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium and the opening weekend will not feature any double-headers.
A total of 20 matches will be played across 10 venues: Bengaluru, Mumbai, Guwahati, New Chandigarh, Lucknow, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
"During the season, Royal Challengers Bengaluru will play five home matches in Bengaluru and two in Raipur. Punjab Kings will play four home matches in New Chandigarh and three in Dharamshala, while Rajasthan Royals will play three home matches in Guwahati and four in Jaipur," said the BCCI in a statement.
"During this period (the first 16 days), the tournament will feature four double-headers, with the afternoon matches beginning at 03:30 PM IST and the evening matches commencing at 07:30 PM IST.
"Following the opening encounter on Saturday, Mumbai Indians will take on Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
"The matches scheduled in Bengaluru are subject to clearance from the Expert Committee constituted by the Government of Karnataka," the BCCI added.
