In Brief
Two educated adults, petitioner No. 1 (a lecturer) and petitioner No. 2 (an assistant professor), married consensually despite the objection of petitioner No. 1's parents on caste and community grounds. A missing person's FIR was registered, and the investigating officer coerced petitioner No. 1 to appear at the police station by threatening to register a false kidnapping case against petitioner No. 2. The Supreme Court held that once two consenting adults marry, family or community consent is unnecessary, and individual choice is inextricable from dignity. The Court quashed the FIR proceedings, strongly criticized the police officer's conduct, and urged parents to accept the marriage and respect their child's autonomous choice.
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