HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD HABEAS CORPUS WRIT PETITION No. - 780 of 2025 Court No. - 44 HON'BLE J.J. MUNIR, J. HON'BLE SANJIV KUMAR, J. In compliance with the rule nisi issued on 07.10.2025, the detenue, Laxmi is present before the Court. We proceed to record her statement: ्ऺश्न -आपका नाम ? उ्तर - लष्मी । ्ऺश्न - आपके के िपता का नाम ? उ्तर - मािनक राय । ्ऺश्न - आपकी आयु िकतनी है ? उ्तर -18 । ्ऺश्न - ये िरकू कौन है ? उ्तर - मेरे हस्बैंड । ्ऺश्न - शादी कब की आपने ? उ्तर - िसतंबर में । ्ऺश्न - आप कहाँ रहना चाहती हैं ? उ्तर - लड़के के साथ । ्ऺश्न – लड़का कौन है ? उ्तर – िरकू । ्ऺश्न – आप अपने िपताजी के साथ रहना चाहती हैं ? उ्तर – नहीं । This Habeas Corpus Writ Petition has been filed seeking a rule nisi of ours to order the production of the detenue Laxmi from custody of the Superintendent, Rajkiya Bal Grih (Balika) Gautam Budh Nagar and upon production, to set her at liberty by making the Rule absolute. Versus Counsel for Petitioner(s) : Mahendra Tripathi, Pradeep Kumar Tiwari, Sushil Kumar Tiwari Counsel for Respondent(s) : G.A. Smt. Laxmi (Corpus) .....Petitioner(s) State Of U.P. And 2 Others .....Respondent(s) We have heard Mr. Mahendra Tripathi, learned Counsel for the petitioner, Mr. Sunil Kumar Gaur, learned Counsel appearing on behalf respondent no.3 and Mr. Deepak Mishra, learned AGA-I on behalf of respondent nos. 1 and 2. Learned Counsel for the petitioner argues that the petitioner is a major and has married Rinku of her free will. She wants to go and live with him and not with respondent no.3, her father. According to learned Counsel, the detenue is an adult and free to go and stay with whomsoever she wishes and go wherever she likes. Her liberty cannot be curtailed by respondent no.3 or by anyone else. It is argued that the order of the Child Welfare Committee dated 20.12.2024, by which she has been interned in the Rajkiya Bal Grih (Balika), Noida is bad in law because the finding there, that the the petitioner is a minor aged 17 years, is manifestly illegal. It is submitted that the Committee, having remarked that the detenue does not have any educational testimonials or a birth certificate, committed a manifest error of law in misinterpreting the Medico Legal Certificate of determination of her age dated 19.12.2024, issued by the Medical Board and countersigned by the Chief Medical Officer, Agra. Upon hearing learned counsel for the parties, what we find is that the Committee were right that there is no birth certificate from any Corporation etc. or a school certificate to prove the detenue's age, and a fortiori, establish if she is a minor or major. Therefore, she was rightly referred for the medical determination of her age by the Child Welfare Committee, which was done under the authority of the Chief Medical Officer, Agra by a Medical Board. The Medical Board opined the prosecutrix to be aged 17 years. We may refer to the settled view of the law in view of Vinod Katara Vs. State of Uttar Pradesh (2023) 15 SCC 210 and Jyoti Prakash Rai Vs. State of Bihar (2008) 15 SCC 223 that the medically determined age is to be construed with a variation of two years on either side and the variation of two years in a case, which involves criminal liability is to be read on the side which exculpates. Here the victim having been opined as 17 years old, the Child Welfare Committee, in literally reading the Medical Board's opinion as if it was the victim's precise age, committed a manifest error of law. It had to be HABC No. 780 of 2025 2 understood with the well recognised and reputed variation of two years in favour of the prosecutrix and the petitioner. The detenue being a major, she is entitled to her freedom and the order of the Child Welfare Committee, ordering her internment in the protection home/Rajkiya Bal Grih (Balika), is clearly unsustainable. In the result, this Habeas Corpus Writ Petition is allowed. The detenue, who is present in Court, is set at liberty forthwith. She is free to go wherever she likes and stay with whomsoever she wants, including her husband, Rinku. The Sub-Inspector Parmila, the L.H.C. Alka Rajput and the Sub-Inspector Atul, Police Station, Achhanera, District Agra, who have brought fourth the detenue are discharged and free to report back at the Station where from they came. There shall be no order as to costs. October 15, 2025 Subham HABC No. 780 of 2025 3 (Sanjiv Kumar,J.) (J.J. Munir,J.) Digitally signed by :- SUBHAM KUSHWAHA High Court of Judicature at Allahabad