Historical efforts to promote Inter Faith / Caste Marriages:
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Keshub Chandra Sen’s efforts: led to a colonial law allowing people of different backgrounds to marry according to their ‘rites of conscience’.
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The Special Marriage Act, in 1954: Took away the colonial law’s requirement to renounce religion.
Various Court Decisions on the Issue:
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Hadiya case by SC :
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“The right to marry a person of one’s choice is integral to Article 21 (right to life and liberty) of the Constitution”.
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“The choice of a partner whether within or outside marriage lies within the exclusive domain of each individual. Intimacies of marriage lie within a core zone of privacy, which is inviolable”.
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The Supreme Court held that a person’s right to choose a religion and marry is an intrinsic part of her meaningful existence. Neither the State nor “patriarchal supremacy” can interfere in her decision.
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Allahabad High Court has said the right to live with a person of one’s choice is intrinsic to the right to life and personal liberty irrespective of religion.
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Supreme Court (SC) in Lata Singh v. State of U.P. (2006) ordered “stern action” against all those threatening or carrying out threats against couples.
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The Supreme Court reiterated the fact that inter-caste marriages are not banned as per Hindu Marriage Act and are in the national interest. It is illegal to stop them in any way.
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The SC in the khap panchayats case observed that no third party has the right to interfere between two consenting adults.
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It said, “When two people get into wedlock, no one should interfere. Neither parents, society, khap or panchayat… no one at all,”.
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