Indore, Jul 13 The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Monday directed that no punitive action should be taken against a woman and her husband, who made headlines during the 2025 Mahakumbh in Prayagraj, in a criminal case until the next hearing.
"Considering the submissions of counsel for the parties present, no coercive action against the petitioners pursuant to the FIR registered at Police Station Maheshwar, District Khargone, will be initiated until the next date of hearing," Justice Gajendra Singh of the Indore bench said after considering arguments from both sides in the couple's writ petition.
The High Court has listed the matter for hearing in the week commencing July 27.
Senior advocate Vivek Krishna Tankha and advocate Jerry Lopes appeared before the court on behalf of the woman's husband.
Additional Advocate General Rahul Sethi and government advocate Suneet Kapoor represented the state government.
The couple had filed a writ petition seeking relief from the cancellation of the girl's birth certificate by the Maheshwar Municipal Council.
The petition states that after the couple's interfaith marriage, the girl's birth certificate was cancelled without following the legal process, resulting in the registration of an FIR against her husband at the Maheshwar police station.
The FIR was registered under sections 137(2) (kidnapping), 81 (fraudulent marriage or sexual intercourse by inducing marriage), 83 (enticing a minor girl) and 87 (kidnapping or abduction) of the BNS, section 9 (child marriage by an adult male) of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, and relevant provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
A special court hearing cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act has already rejected the woman's husband's anticipatory bail plea in this case.
The couple has alleged in the High Court petition that the woman's birth records were tampered with as part of a criminal conspiracy to show her as a minor at the time of marriage.
According to the petition, the couple married in a temple in Kerala on March 11.
The petition states that the woman's actual date of birth is January 1, 2008, and this date is also recorded in her birth certificate issued by the Maheshwar Nagar Panchayat, as well as her Aadhaar card, PAN card, and other government documents.
The petition alleged that after the marriage, the woman's family opposed the relationship and the original birth certificate was cancelled without following legal procedures.
The couple also alleges that an FIR was lodged against the woman's husband based on altered records and that their interfaith marriage was given a communal colour by linking it to "love jihad", posing a threat to their safety.
