Delhi High Court asks the Centre to file a reply on the petition challenging the procedure of issuance of public notice for 30 days inviting objections to the inter-faith marriage being registered under the Special Marriage Act. A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan issued notice to the Ministry of Law and Delhi government seeking their stand on the petition which contends that the 30-day notice period discourages inter-faith couples from getting married.
The Supreme Court has agreed to examine whether certain provisions of the Special Marriage Act of 1954, which allows personal records to be made available to the public for scrutiny 30 days prior to the intended marriage, violate the right to privacy of the parties.
Nandini Praveen, a law student from Kerala, Filed a PIL, urging the Court’s direction to quash certain sections of the Act which hamper the privacy of couples. She said that placing these details in the public domain violates an individual’s right to privacy as guaranteed by the Constitution.
However, Chief Justice of India SA Bobde asked her counsel: “Your plea is that this is a violation of the privacy of the couples. But imagine if children run away to get married how the parents would know about the whereabouts of their children? If the wife runs away, how would the husband come to know?”
