The Supreme Court is set to examine whether certain provisions of the Special Marriage Act, 1954, that allow personal records to be available to the public during the 30-day notice period before the marriage, violate the individual’s right to privacy.
I believe that all the information that is asked in Section 4 of the Special Marriage Act is basic and doesn’t violate any privacy concerns. It’s very clear that this act doesn’t imply any sanction from the society and allows individuals from different religions to solemnize their marriage without making religion a problem. As this does not involve any sanction from the society’s side, it may lead to some exceptional cases of fraud.
The basic information that is put in public under Section 6 is just to assure whether the claims made by the couple are true or not, to make sure they are not already married and are not intending to initiate bigamy and to make sure that they are in a state of mind and age to make such decisions.
According to me, it’s a safety provision which is in effect just to prevent any mishappenings in the future.
Apart from that, it can be taken into consideration that several false claims can be made during these 30 days just to prevent the occurrence of marriage. But then again, we must not forget that these objections will be looked upon by the officer. The final say will be by the officer so that any false claim can never hinder the process.
Lastly, I believe that not just in the case of Special Marriage Act, but also in other cases like Hindu, Christian and Parsi marriage acts, this should be a provision just to assure safety. In a country like India, there must be a uniform civil law for all without taking religion into consideration.
(I am Divya Yadav. This is my first article, I have never been excellent and creative in writing. I have started this to improve my knowledge as well as my writing skills. I believe I will get better at this as I get used to writing. Thank you so much for reading this. Feel free to share your precious feedback.)