Jaipur/Jodhpur: In a ruling that puts liberty inside the prison gate, the Rajasthan High Court has allowed two murder convicts lodged in an open-air prison to marry, holding that the right of two consenting adults to solemnise marriage is part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.
Seema Ghadse
The inmates will marry on July 22.A division bench of Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati and Justice Praveer Bhatnagar passed the order on July 15 while allowing an application by 31-year-old Moolaram, a murder convict lodged at the Open Prisons in Mandor, Jodhpur.The woman he plans to marry, Seema Ghadse, is also serving a sentence for murdering her husband. She was convicted nearly 10 years ago and has been lodged in the open-air prison for the past year.The court directed prison authorities to permit the wedding inside the open-air camp and allow up to 21 family members to attend. It left the timing, security and decorum arrangements to jail officials. Moolaram will bear all expenses of the ceremony.Relying on its 2022 judgement in Nand Lal vs State, the bench reiterated that imprisonment does not wipe out fundamental rights, and that marriage deserves constitutional protection even within prison law.The State did not oppose the plea. Public prosecutors told the court that such a marriage could legally take place in an open-air camp under the Rajasthan Prisoners Release on Parole Rules, 2021, subject to prison discipline and security.Moolaram’s counsel, Kalu Ram Bhati, said the plea grew out of Seema’s request to help her marry a fellow inmate.“The woman inmate has been known to me for some time. She got life imprisonment almost 10 years ago and was sent to the open prisons almost a year ago. She only told me that she is in love with the fellow inmate Moolaram and wanted to marry him. Since her confinement in jail, nobody ever came to meet her from Maharashtra. So, I promised that I will take court’s help for the marriage,” Bhati said.In court, Bhati argued that allowing the marriage would serve the purpose of rehabilitation, not just punishment.“Allowing the marriage in the open-air camp would enhance the process of rehabilitation and reformation and enable the couple to settle down and build a future family,” he submitted.
