The High Court noted in its order that copies of Aadhaar cards issued by UIDAI showed them as having attained the legal age for marriage.
After discovering that the Aadhaar cards of a runaway couple that had sought the court’s protection in March contained “incorrect” data of their age, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has now come across a similar problem with the Aadhaar card data of another runaway couple that had approached it in January. A UP couple, who approached the court for protection on January 24, submitted their Aadhaar cards as proof of age, but the court has now been informed that the girl is not 15 years old yet and the man, who she declared to be her husband, was facing charges of kidnapping her in Muzaffarnagar.
The discrepancy came to light when on a plea from one Sachin Kumar and the teenager he claimed was his wife, Justice Amol Rattan Singh directed Chandigarh Police to protect the couple and issued a notice to police and the girl’s parents for their response to the case on May 8.
The High Court noted in its order that copies of Aadhaar cards issued by UIDAI showed them as having attained the legal age for marriage. But when the girls’ parents received the court notice, they rushed to Chandigarh with a different set of documents showing their daughter to be underage and demanded that the hearing be advanced.
Counsel representing the girl’s parents told the court on March 28 that the girl was “less than even 15 years of age, her date of birth being 15.09.2003”.
The parents have produced a certificate issued by a Muzaffarnagar college and a family register of the local gram panchayat in support of their claim.
The court was also informed that an FIR had been registered under sections 363 (kidnapping) and 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her marriage) of IPC in Muzaffarnagar on January 23. The court had advanced the hearing to April 6 on the request of the parents. But neither the couple nor their counsel showed up for the hearing.
Police have told the court that the Sector 31 PS had not found the couple at the address they had given. Advocate Dhanvinder Singh Nigha, who represented the couple in the protection plea in January, told Chandigarh Newsline that he no longer had instructions to represent them and was no longer in touch with them. “They had given me their original Aadhaar cards. Some advocate has filed a written reply saying the Aadhaar cards are not original. I am not concerned about that. I was only concerned about their life and liberty. I am not concerned about the validity or invalidity of their marriage. Right to life is the mother of all rights,” he said. “People are used to giving such type of Aadhaar cards. How these people are getting such cards is a matter of concern. It is now the duty of the court to issue strict guidelines to administrative authorities,” Nigha added.
Last month, in a similar case of a runaway couple seeking protection, Justice Singh had sought an explanation from UIDAI on the matter, which is listed for hearing on April 23. The UP couple’s case will be heard again on April 21.