Challenging the Special Marriage Act, 1954

The Supreme Court dismissed a writ petition challenging provisions of the Special Marriage Act (SMA), 1954 requiring couples to give a notice declaring their intent to marry 30 days before their marriage.

The Supreme Court dismissed a writ petition challenging the Constitutional validity of certain provisions of the SMA under which couples seek refuge for inter-faith and inter-caste marriages.
The writ petition has called these provisions violative of the right to privacy guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution as they require couples to give a notice of 30 days before the date of marriage inviting objections from the public.

Section 5 of the SMA requires couples getting married under it to give a notice to the Marriage Officer 30 days before the date of marriage. The writ seeks striking down of provisions that follow in Section 6 to Section 10.
Section 6 requires such a notice to be then entered into the Marriage Notice Book maintained by the Marriage Officer, which can be inspected by “any person desirous of inspecting the same”. These notices have to be also affixed at a “conspicuous place” in the office of the Marriage Officer so that anyone can raise an objection to the marriage.
Section 7 provides the process for making an objection such as if either party has a living spouse, is incapable of giving consent due to “unsoundness of mind” or is suffering from mental disorder resulting in the person being unfit for marriage or procreation. Section 8 specifies the inquiry procedure to be followed after an objection has been submitted.

These public notices have been used by anti-social elements to harass couples getting married.
There have been instances, where marriage officers have gone over and beyond the law and sent such notices to the parents of the couple
The Haryana government has laid down 16 pre-requisites which ask couples to issue a notice in a newspaper and that such notices be sent to their parents. In certain States, couples have to seek a no-objection certificate from their parents.

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