On Sunday, Bhupendra Patel, the chief minister of Gujarat said that his government will study the possibility of a system for making parental nod mandatory in love marriages if it is constitutionally feasible.
While addressing an event in Gujarat’s Mehsana organised by the Sardar Patel Group representing the Patidar community, Patel said he was told by the state health minister about the need for a study into the incidents of girls eloping for marriage so that the consent of parents in case of love marriages can be made necessary.
Patel said,”Rushikesh Patel told me to look afresh and carry out a study into the incidents of the elopement of girls so as to see if there is a possibility of (mandatory) consent of parents into (love marriages). If the Constitution supports it, then we will carry out a study regarding this and try to get the best result for this.”
The opposition Congress supported the decision. Congress MLA Imran Khedawala said,”At a time when parents are neglected in love marriages, the government is thinking of creating a specific system regarding love marriages that is constitutionally feasible.”
The Gujarat government amended the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act in 2021, making forcible or fraudulent religious conversion by marriage a punishable offence, with a provision of up to 10 years imprisonment.
However, the high court stayed certain sections of the Act which were challenged in the Supreme Court, where it is pending.
