The Supreme Court has not given a verdict mandating parental approval for court or love marriages - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 22, 2023
A widely shared social media post claims that the Supreme Court of India held that it is mandatory to have parental consent for love or court marriages. Let’s verify the claim in the post.
Claim: Supreme Court of India held that it is mandatory to have parental consent for love or court marriages.
Fact: The Supreme Court has not given any verdict mandating parental approval for court or love marriages. The court in fact has consistently held that there is no legal requirement for parental consent for a court or love marriage based on the fundamental right to freedom of marriage under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
On a relevant keyword search regarding the claim made in the post, we found that the Supreme Court of India has not given any such verdict. While searching for related judgments, we came across recent suggestions by the Gujarat government to be included in Gujarat’s Freedom of Religion Amendment Act, 2021. The proposal recommends making it obligatory for couples to obtain parental approval for love and court marriages. However, the Gujarat High Court stayed certain contentious sections of the Act and its order was challenged in the Supreme Court, where it is pending (here and here).
Subsequent research on the Supreme Court’s judgments on the right to marriage found that in India, the Supreme Court has consistently held that there is no legal requirement for parental consent for a court or love marriage based on the fundamental right to freedom of marriage under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
For instance, in the ruling of the nine-judge bench in the case of Justice K.S. Puttaswamy vs. Union of India in 2012, the Supreme Court emphasized that an individual’s autonomy, particularly concerning matters of family and marriage, is deemed essential to the dignity of the individual. Shafin Jahan vs. Asokan K. M. & Ors. is a significant legal case in India that gained attention in the context of inter-faith marriages and the right to choose a life partner freely. The court in 2018 held that the right to marry a person of one’s choice is integral to the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution. In Laxmibai Chandaragi vs. the state of Karnataka in 2020, the Supreme Court held that the right or choice to marry should not yield to the notions of “class honour” or “group thinking” and the consent of the family or the community or the clan is not necessary once two adult individuals agree to enter into a marriage.
To sum up, the Supreme Court has not given any verdict mandating parental approval for court or love marriages.