Married by Choice and Facing Threats From Family? Getting Police Protection in Delhi

What the Delhi High Court can order for you

The High Court can direct the Delhi Police to protect your life and liberty. In a typical order, the court asks the SHO of the police station where you live to assess the threat, to give you the mobile numbers of the beat officer and the SHO, to respond at once if you call, and to ensure that your family members do not harm, threaten or confine you. Where the threat is serious, the court can direct that you be kept in a government safe house for a period, or that a police officer accompany you on particular occasions such as collecting belongings.

The court can also restrain specific relatives, by name, from coming near you or contacting you, and can tell the police that you must not be handed over to anyone against your will. If your family has filed a kidnapping complaint, the court can direct the police not to take coercive steps against your partner while the matter is examined, and to record your statement.

The order does not decide whether your marriage is valid, and it does not punish anyone. It is a protective order. It works because it puts on record that two adults made a choice, that they fear for their lives, and that the police are now answerable to the High Court if something happens.

Your right to choose a partner

The Supreme Court has said repeatedly that an adult's choice of whom to marry is part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution. In Lata Singh v. State of U.P. (2006) it directed the police to protect inter-caste couples and to act against those who threaten them. In Shafin Jahan v. Asokan K.M. (2018) it held that the choice of a partner, including across religion, is the adult's own, and that neither parents nor the State can override it. In Shakti Vahini v. Union of India (2018) it treated threats and violence in the name of family honour as a serious crime and laid down preventive, remedial and punitive measures for the police.

The same principle protects adult couples living together without marriage. The courts do not have to approve of the relationship to protect the people in it: the State's duty is to protect life, and a threat of violence is a threat to life regardless of the couple's legal status. Some situations raise harder questions, such as where one partner is still married to someone else, and judges have taken different views on the scope of relief there. Protection of life is rarely refused, but you should expect the court to ask about your marital status.

In Supriyo v. Union of India (2023), the Supreme Court declined to recognise same-sex marriage, but made clear that queer couples must not face harassment from the police or their families for their relationship. The Delhi High Court has granted protection to same-sex couples facing family threats on the same Article 21 basis.

The law that applies

Who can ask for protection, and what the court checks first

Both partners must be adults. For marriage, that means at least 21 for the man and 18 for the woman. For a couple simply living together, both must be at least 18. The court's first question is age, because families often allege that the woman is a minor to turn the case into one of kidnapping or POCSO. Bring a school leaving certificate, matriculation certificate or birth certificate, in that order of preference. An Aadhaar card alone is often not treated as proof of age.

The court then asks about free will. Usually both petitioners appear, in person or by video, and the judge may speak to the woman separately. If she confirms that she chose the marriage freely and fears her family, the court proceeds. If there is any sign of pressure from the man's side, the court will be cautious, and may direct that the woman be kept in a safe house or Nari Niketan until her wishes are clear.

Finally the court looks at the threat. Specific threats help: messages, call recordings, a relative's visit with others, a panchayat's statement, an earlier incident. You do not need proof of an actual attack. Vague fear is enough to ask the police to assess the threat, but specific facts get faster and stronger orders.

Getting the marriage done properly

Many couples who come to the High Court have married at a temple or an Arya Samaj mandir and hold only a certificate from that institution. That certificate is evidence of a ceremony, not registration. Register the marriage with the SDM as soon as you can, because a registered marriage is far harder for a family to dispute. Courts have also come across certificates issued without proper checks, and judges sometimes ask for the priest's or the institution's records.

For couples of different religions who do not want to convert, the Special Marriage Act is the route. In Delhi, notice is given to the Marriage Officer, usually the SDM of the revenue district, and can be started online through the Delhi Government's portal. The 30-day public notice is the period when families are most likely to learn of the marriage and react. If you fear that, you can file for protection before or during the notice period.

Conversion for marriage raises its own issues. Some States, including Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, have laws regulating religious conversion, with procedures that must be followed and penalties if they are not. If either partner is from such a State, or the conversion took place there, get advice before you act. A marriage done in a hurry with a conversion that does not meet those rules can become the basis of a fresh FIR.

Go to the police first, in writing

Before filing in the High Court, give a written complaint to the SHO of the police station where you live and send a copy to the DCP of the district, by email and by speed post. Describe who threatened you, when and how, and say that you are adults who married of your own will. Attach your age proof and marriage papers. Keep the diary number or the email acknowledgment.

Sometimes this is enough: a sensible SHO calls the family, warns them, and registers an FIR for criminal intimidation under Section 351 BNS (old Section 506 IPC) if the threats are serious. When the police do not act, or act on the family's side by pressing the woman to go home, the written complaint becomes evidence in your writ petition that you tried the ordinary route first. If the police refuse to register an FIR for actual threats, our guide on what to do when Delhi Police refuse to register your FIR explains the options, and our page on Delhi Police not acting on your complaint covers High Court remedies.

Do not wait for a reply if the threat is immediate. Call 112, and go to court at the same time. The written complaint can be filed the same day as the petition.

Which High Court: Delhi, Punjab and Haryana, or Allahabad

The Delhi High Court can protect you if you live in Delhi, or if the threat or part of it arises in Delhi. Many couples from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan come to Delhi because they feel safer here, and the Delhi High Court routinely directs Delhi Police to protect couples living in its territory, even where the families live elsewhere. Under Article 226(2), a High Court can issue directions to authorities outside its territory where part of the cause of action arises within it, and the Delhi High Court has in some cases recorded assurances from the police of a neighbouring State.

If you live in Gurugram, Faridabad or Sonipat, the Punjab and Haryana High Court is usually the right forum. If you live in Noida, Greater Noida or Ghaziabad, it is usually the Allahabad High Court. A petition filed in Delhi when you have no real connection to Delhi may be returned or dismissed. Our guide on filing a writ in the Delhi High Court if you live outside Delhi explains how the courts decide this.

A kidnapping FIR registered in another State is a separate problem. The Delhi High Court can protect you from the family and direct Delhi Police not to hand you over, but quashing an FIR registered in Haryana usually requires a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. In practice, couples sometimes need two petitions in two courts, and the order of filing matters.

How a protection petition moves in the Delhi High Court

1. Gather proof of age, marriage and threat

   Collect both partners' age documents, the marriage certificate and photographs, and any threatening messages or call recordings. Write down dates and names. Keep copies outside your phone in case it is taken.

2. Send the written complaint to SHO and DCP

   Send it by email and speed post the same day. Keep the acknowledgment. This shows the court you approached the police and gives the police a chance to act.

3. Draft the criminal writ petition

   The petition sets out your ages, how you met and married, the family's opposition, the specific threats and your complaint to the police. The respondents are the State (Government of NCT of Delhi through the SHO and DCP) and the family members who are threatening you. Both partners sign and swear the affidavit.

4. File and seek urgent listing

   The petition is e-filed with an application for urgent hearing. Where the threat is immediate, it can be mentioned for listing the same or next day. Our guide on urgent listing and mentioning in the Delhi High Court explains the process.

5. Appear at the hearing

   Both of you should appear, in person or by video, with original ID. The State counsel takes instructions from the police. The judge may speak to you, ask about age and free will, and pass protective directions the same day.

6. Follow up with the police

   Take the order to the SHO and get the beat officer's number. If you move house, inform the police station in the new area and show them the order. Keep a copy on your phone and a printed copy at home.

7. Return to court if things change

   If the threats continue or the police do not follow the order, file an application in the same petition. Disobedience of a High Court order can lead to contempt proceedings against the person responsible.

Time and cost at each stage

Documents to bring

When the family files a kidnapping case

The most common counter-move is a complaint that the woman has been kidnapped or is missing, often naming the husband and his relatives. If she is an adult who left on her own, there is no kidnapping, but the police still have to investigate once an FIR is registered under Section 137 BNS (kidnapping, old Section 363 IPC) or Section 87 BNS (kidnapping to compel marriage, old Section 366 IPC). The danger is that the police trace the couple and hand the woman back to her family.

The protection petition should disclose the FIR, and the High Court can direct that the woman's statement be recorded before a magistrate under Section 183 BNSS and that no coercive steps be taken against the husband meanwhile. Once she states before the magistrate that she is an adult and married of her own will, the investigation usually ends with a closure report, or the FIR can be quashed. Our page on how to quash a false FIR in the Delhi High Court explains that step.

If the family alleges the woman is a minor, age becomes the central question. School records come first; a medical age test is used only where no reliable document exists. A real dispute about age changes everything, because sexual relations with a minor are an offence under the POCSO Act regardless of consent or marriage.

When the family files habeas corpus

Sometimes the parents go to the High Court first, with a habeas corpus petition claiming that their daughter is being held by the man. The court then directs the police to produce her. This is not as alarming as it sounds: when she appears, the judge speaks to her, often in chambers, and asks what she wants. If she is an adult and says she wants to live with her husband, the court records that and lets her go with him, sometimes with directions for protection. Our page on habeas corpus for release from illegal detention explains how those petitions work.

The reverse also happens. Where the woman has been taken back by her family and is being kept at home against her will, the husband can file habeas corpus. The court will want specific facts about where she is held and why he believes she is not free, and will have her produced so that she can speak for herself.

When Advocate B.K. Singh advises a couple, he asks early whether either family has already filed anything in any court or police station, in any State. Couples are often unaware of a complaint filed back home, and finding it before the hearing allows the petition to deal with it directly.

Mistakes couples make

• Relying only on a temple certificate. Register the marriage. Registration is strong evidence; a certificate from an institution alone invites questions.
• Hiding a prior case or marriage. If either of you was married before, or there is an FIR anywhere, tell your lawyer. The court will find out, and concealment can cost you the order.
• Filing in the wrong court. If you live in Gurugram, Noida or Ghaziabad, the Delhi High Court is usually not your court. Filing in the wrong place wastes days you may not have.
• Meeting the family alone to talk it out. Many attacks happen at such meetings. If a meeting must happen, do it through the police or mediation, not at a relative's house.
• Losing the woman's documents. Families often keep her certificates. Get copies from the school or board, and keep digital copies with someone you trust.
• Assuming the order lasts forever. Protection orders are often reviewed after the police assess the threat. If the threat rises again, go back to court quickly.

A word for parents

Parents who oppose a marriage are often frightened rather than hostile. They fear that the daughter has been misled, that the man is not who he claims to be, or that she is younger than the papers say. Those are real worries, but the law gives an adult the final say. If your child is an adult and has chosen to marry, neither a police station nor a court will send her back to you against her will.

If you believe your child is a minor, take her school records to the police. If you believe she is being held against her will, a habeas corpus petition will bring her before the High Court, where she can speak for herself. What you must not do is use force or threats, or let relatives do so: that exposes the whole family to criminal cases, and the courts take honour-related violence very seriously after Shakti Vahini.

Advocate B.K. Singh has seen many of these disputes settle with time once both sides calm down and the couple's safety is assured. A protective order is often the first step towards that, not the end of the family.

What to do this week

If threats have started, send the written complaint to your SHO and DCP today and keep the acknowledgment. Make copies of your age proof and marriage papers and store them with someone you trust. Note the names of the relatives involved and save every threatening message. Our guide on how to get police protection as a couple who married by choice in Delhi gives the same checklist in shorter form.

If you have not yet registered your marriage, do it. If you plan to marry under the Special Marriage Act and fear the notice period, consider filing for protection before the notice goes up. And if either family has filed any complaint anywhere, get a copy before you go to court. If the danger is immediate, call 112 and move the High Court the same day; our page on writ petitions against the government explains how writs work more generally.

For advice on your papers and the protection you need, or for updates on how the Delhi High Court handles these petitions, contact Advocate B.K. Singh.