In a significant move, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that runaway couples seeking protection must fully disclose their identities, including their age, complete address, father’s name, and previous residence details. The court’s decision follows concerns over vague or incomplete information in such petitions.
The High Court registry, in a notice issued on March 5, stated that petitions lacking these mandatory details would not be cleared for listing. The directive was based on an order passed by Justice Sanjay Vashisth on February 6 in CRWP-1243-2025.
Common Address Issue Raised
Justice Vashisth highlighted that many protection pleas mention a single common address for both partners without proper verification. “Many a times, this Court is confronted with similar nature of petitions, wherein one common address of the petitioners is mentioned and no objection is being raised by the Registry,” the order stated. To prevent such discrepancies, the Court directed the registry to ensure all essential details are furnished before listing the cases.
Background of the Order
The ruling came while hearing a plea filed by a 19-year-old woman and a 21-year-old man who had married against their families’ wishes on February 1. Fearing threats to their lives, they approached the Court seeking protection.
On February 11, Justice Vashisth directed the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Fazilka to verify their claims and take appropriate steps to ensure their safety. However, the Court clarified that the order did not validate their marriage or restrict legal action against them.
“It is made clear that before looking into the grievances of the petitioners, it would be verified by the concerned authorities, if any case [is] registered against petitioner No.2 [man] by the family members of petitioner No.1 [woman] in the State of Uttrakhand, as petitioner No.1 is resident of District Dehradun (Uttrakhand),” the Court noted.
With this directive, the Punjab and Haryana High Court aims to streamline protection petitions while ensuring transparency and accountability in such cases.
