Arya Samaj misused beliefs in organising marriages without considering genuineness of documents: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court last week took a poor view of Arya Samaj marriages, noting that the institution had misused its beliefs in organising marriages without even considering the genuineness of documents. [Bhola Singh v. State of UP].Justice Saurabh Shyam Shamshery took note of the fact that the Court was flooded with marriage certificates from different Arya Samaj societies which were seriously questioned.“Since the marriage has not been registered, therefore, only on the basis of said certificate it cannot be deemed that the parties have married,” the judge further held..The High Court was prompted to make this observation while hearing a habeas corpus petition alleging that the corpus was the petitioner’s wife.To prove the legality of their marriage, the petitioner relied on a certificate of marriage as well as a certificate issued by Arya Samaj Mandir, Ghaziabad.On the other hand, the Court was also informed that a complaint had been registered against the petitioner by the father of his purported wife and that the investigation into the complaint was ongoing..Justice Shamshery also pointed out that a habeas corpus writ was an extraordinary remedy and could not be issued as a right.“The petitioners have other remedies available for the purpose under criminal and civil law, therefore, the present writ petition for habeas corpus at the behest of husband to regain his wife as corpus is not maintainable as a matter of course, ignoring that marriage cannot be deemed to be solemnized.”.Therefore, while finding no case of illegal detention, the plea was dismissed.“The corpus is a major and an F.I.R. has been lodged against the petitioner No.1 by father of petitioner No.2 corpus and investigation is undergoing, therefore, there is no case of illegal detention.”.Advocate Dharam Veer Singh appeared for the petitioner while the State was represented by government advocate Sunil Srivastava..[Read Order]