×

UPSC Courses

DNA banner

DAILY NEWS ANALYSIS

  • 01 September, 2022

  • 9 Min Read

special marriage act 1954 upsc

Challenging the Special Marriage Act, 1954

Image Source - Community Forest Resource Rights

  • 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

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.

Also, Read - Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

Source: The Indian Express


Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a and MASS EXTINCTION

Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a from the Paris Basin (Environment) Paper-3 PMP OAE 1a refers to a period during the Cretaceous Period (145 million years ago and ended 66 million years ago) when Earth's oceans became depleted of oxygen, causing a significant disruption in marine life.  Cause: The event is believed to have been

Viksit Panchayat Karmayogi (Good governance)

Viksit Panchayat Karmayogi (Good governance) Governance GS PAPER-2 PMP Dr. Jitendra Singh launched the ‘Viksit Panchayat Karmayogi’ initiative on Good Governance Day, celebrated to mark the 100th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The initiative, which is part of the broader ‘Prashasan Gaon

Major programmes to control Air Pollution

Major programmes to control Air Pollution National Clean Air Programme? It was launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in January 2019. It is the first-ever effort in the country to frame a national framework for air quality management with a time-bound reduction target. The

Air pollution and Air quality Measures in India

Air pollution and Air quality Measures in India (Environment) GS Paper-3 P-M-P Air pollution may be defined as the presence of any solid, liquid or gaseous substance including noise and radioactive radiation in the atmosphere in such concentration that may be directly and/or indirectly injurious to humans or other l

Geopolitical Significance of Ports

Geopolitical Significance of Ports (IR)  Act as geopolitical assets: Ports enhance the projection of strategic reach, which helps strengthen the country’s control over important sea and energy supply routes.  E.g. Indian Navy’s staging base at Agalega Islands will enable marine patrols

Toppers

Search By Date

Newsletter Subscription
SMS Alerts

Important Links

UPSC GS Mains Crash Course - RAW Prelims Answer Key 2024