Madurai:
The Madras High Court fined a person for filing habeas corpus petitions alleging illegal detention of his 27-year-old daughter who had married against his wishes.
Dismissing the petition, the Madurai bench of the court comrpising Justice S Manikumar and Justice V S Ravi imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on M Baliah for suppressing the filing of an earlier habeas corpus plea and the order passed thereon.
The petitioner was wasting the time of the judiciary, the bench observed.
Baliah, a resident of Vallam in Tirunelveli, had approached the court in July accusing a youngster of having abducted his daughter. Complying with directions passed in that case, police produced the woman before the court on August 4.
Police also informed the court that an inquiry conducted following a complaint lodged by the petitioner's wife revealed that the daughter had left her parents' home on her own and married the youngster at Pentecost Church at Odaikarai on March 21.
The girl told the court that she was not detained by anybody against her wishes. After recording her submission in the presence of the petitioner, the court closed the writ petition with an observation that she was free to go anywhere as per her wishes.
The petitioner had referred the present plea for the second time alleging that his daughter called his brother-in-law over phone on May 24 and cried for help and therefore police should be ordered to produce her in court.
Dismissing the habeas corpus plea at the admission stage itself on the basis of the submissions made by Additional Public Prosecutor, the judges said the court could not entertain the practice of filing cases after cases for the same cause.