Don't Marry Daughter Off Before 18: MP High Court Tells Father In Habeas Corpus Plea

The Madhya Pradesh High Court, Jabalpur Bench, has disposed of a habeas corpus petition filed by a father seeking the production of his missing 14-year-old daughter, after the girl was found and, following mediation, agreed to return home with her parents.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Alpesh Y. Kogje and Justice Vivek Rusia recorded the girl's apprehension that her father might pressurise her into marriage before she turns 18, and accordingly warned him against doing so.

The petitioner, Ashok Patel, had approached the High Court after his daughter, born on October 21, 2011, went missing from her home in Gopalganj, Sagar district, on July 27, 2026. An FIR was registered at Police Station Gopalganj as Crime No. 335 of 2026 against an unknown person. When the matter came up for hearing on September 17, the girl, referred to in the order as "the corpus," was produced before the Court by Assistant Sub Inspector Karan Singh Markam and Lady Constable Neelam Thakur of Police Station Gopalganj.

The order records that the girl was initially unwilling to go back with her parents. It was only after mediation and conciliation conducted by Advocate Nirmala Nayak, who assisted the Court as a mediator, that she agreed to return home. During this process, she expressed a specific fear to the Court: that her father would pressurise her into getting married before she attained the legal age of marriage, which is 18 for women in India.

Taking note of this apprehension, the bench directed the father in unambiguous terms. "We warn the petitioner not to marry her before attaining the marriage age, and he will not restrain his daughter for pursuing further studies," the Court recorded in its order. The direction effectively binds the father on two counts, that he cannot solemnise her marriage before she turns 18, and that he cannot stand in the way of her continuing her education.

To ensure that the safeguard does not remain confined to paper, the Court also built in a monitoring mechanism. It appointed Lady Constable Neelam Thakur as the "Sakhi," or companion, of the girl, directing that she remain in regular contact with her going forward. The move is intended to give the minor an accessible point of contact with the police even after she returns to her family, so that any attempt to violate the Court's warning, whether on marriage or her studies, can be flagged without delay.

Advocate Aseem Dixit appeared for the petitioner, while Government Advocate Rajvardhan Dutt Pararha represented the State of Madhya Pradesh. With the girl having agreed to reunite with her parents and the safeguards in place, the Court disposed of the writ petition.

Beyond simply securing the child's production, courts increasingly use such petitions to probe the circumstances awaiting the child at home, and to build in conditions, such as the marriage-age warning and the "Sakhi" arrangement here, that protect the child's autonomy and future even after the case formally ends. 

Case Title: Ashok Patel v. The State of Madhya Pradesh

Date of Order: September 17, 2026

Bench: Chief Justice Alpesh Y. Kogje and Justice Vivek Rusia