NOTICE NOT A MUST FOR INTER-FAITH MARRIAGES: ALLAHABAD HC

LUCKNOW: The mandatory display of notices for marriage of inter-faith couples will be optional from now, the Allahabad high court has ruled in an order that is likely to bring relief to inter-faith couples at a time when several states in the country have introduced laws that effectively regulate such marriages.

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court ruled that the publication of notice for intended marriage under section 6 and inviting/entertaining objections under section 7 of the Special Marriage Act, will not be mandatory, observing that such notifications “invade in the fundamental rights of liberty and privacy” and affect a couple’s freedom to choose marriage “without interference from state and non-state actors”

Earlier, an inter-faith couple had to give written notice of the marriage to the district marriage officer.

Justice Vivek Chaudhary passed the judgment on January 12 on a habeus corpus petition filed by an inter-faith couple intending to marry. The order was uploaded on the high court’s website on Wednesday.

“This court mandates that while giving notice under section 5 of the (Special Marriage) Act of 1954, it shall be optional for the parties to the intended marriage to make a request in writing to the marriage officer to publish or not to publish a notice under section 6 and follow the procedure of objections as prescribed under the Act,” the court