'Chilling effect on rights': PIL challenges Special Marriage Act provisions

New Delhi, Sep 3 A plea has been moved in the Supreme Court challenging the validity of certain provisions of the Special Marriage Act, which make two adults share their personal details in public domain for scrutiny before marriage, as these may have a "chilling effect on the fundamental right to marry and privacy".

The PIL has been moved by Kerala-based law student Nandini Praveen, who contended that couples are asked to waive the right to privacy to exercise the right to marry. "This infringes the rights of autonomy, dignity and the right to marry, of various couple," said the PIL.

"Publishing details of notice of marriage by the marriage officers include the details of the parties like names, date of birth, age, occupation, parents' names and details, address, pin code, identity information, phone number etc. This is a peculiar requirement of the Act...," added the plea.

The petition challenges certain provisions of the Special Marriage Act for those violate the fundamental rights of the citizens under Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution, as the parties are required to publish their private details, open for public scrutiny, 30 days before the intended marriage.

"The provisions also allow anyone to submit objections to the marriage and empower the Marriage Officer to inquire into such objections," added the plea. The petitioner argued that these provisions violate the fundamental rights of couples intending to marry.

The plea sought striking down of sections 6(2), 7, 8 and 10 of the Special Marriage Act as they were unconstitutional and illegal

"The requirement of notice before marriage is absent in the Hindu Marriage Act and customary laws in Islam. Therefore, the said provision is also discriminatory and violative of Article 14 (right to equality)," said the plea.

( With inputs from IANS )