Challenging the Special Marriage Act, 1954

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• The Special Marriage Act (SMA), 1954's requirement that couples send a notice of their plan to marry 30 days before their wedding, was recently rejected by the Supreme Court (SC).
• The case was denied by the SC on the grounds that the petitioner was no longer a harmed party because she had previously celebrated her marriage in accordance with the SMA.

About the petition

• The petition contested the constitutionality of the SMA clauses that allow interfaith and intercaste couples to seek sanctuary.
• As they compel couples to provide a notice of 30 days prior to the date of marriage inviting public objections, the writ petition claims that these requirements violate the right to privacy granted by Article 21 of the Constitution.
• The petition asserts that because these conditions are not present in personal laws, the provisions violate Article 14 on the prohibition of discrimination on the basis of religion, race, caste, and sex as well as Article 15 on the right to equality.

Provisions Challenged and How it Make Couples Vulnerable?

• Couples getting married under Section 5 of the SMA must notify the Marriage Officer 30 days in advance of the wedding.
• The petition calls for the repeal of the clauses in Sections 6 to 10.
• Such notice must then be put into the Marriage Notice Book, which is kept by the Marriage Officer and accessible to "any person desirous of seeing the same," in accordance with Section 6.
• The procedure for filing an objection is outlined in Section 7.
• The investigation process that must be followed after submission of an objection is laid out in Section 8.
• The petition argues that these clauses expose people's private information to public inspection.
• Therefore, these requirements substantially impair a person's ability to govern their personal information and who can access it.
• The state is interfering with a couple's freedom to make their own decisions about their marriage by making the couple's private information public.
• Antisocial individuals have harassed engaged couples using these public notices.
• Marriage officials have occasionally gone over and beyond the law by sending such letters to the couple's parents, which has resulted in the girl's parents confining her to her home.

Formalizing marriage in India

• In India, a marriage may be registered under the Special Marriage Act of 1954 or the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955.
• Hindus should take note of the Hindu Marriage Act.
• Any resident of India may get married in court under the Special Marriage Act, regardless of their religion.

More information on the 1954 Special Marriage Act

• The Special Marriage Act, of 1954 is a law passed by the Indian Parliament that includes provisions for civil unions, also known as "registered marriages."
• The Act addresses marriages between different castes and religions.
• A marriage between members of two different castes is referred to as an inter-caste union.
• Marriage between adherents of two different religions is known as an interfaith union.
• The consent of both parties to the marriage is the primary criterion under this Act for a legitimate marriage.
• Anyone can use it, regardless of religion.
• According to the Special Marriage Act of 1954, marriages can also be performed by Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis, or Jews.

Inter-religious unions.

• This law applies to prospective spouses who are both Indian citizens and covers the full area of India.
• A citizen of India who lives abroad.

Prerequisites for marriage:

• No other legitimate marriage should be active between the parties.
• To put it another way, both parties in the marriage should be monogamous.
• The bride must be at least 18 years old and the groom at least 21.

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