The requirement of publication of notice under Section 6 and inviting or entertaining objections under Section 7 can only be read as directory in nature, the court held.
In a significant judgment affecting inter-faith couples seeking to get married under the Special Marriage Act, 1954, the Allahabad High Court has ruled that it would be optional and not mandatory for them to publish a notice about their intended marriage.
The provision for mandatory publication of notice, derived through “simplistic reading” of the particular law, “would invade in the fundamental rights of liberty and privacy, including within its sphere freedom to choose for marriage without interference from state and non-state actors, of the persons concerned,” the court said in a judgment delivered on January 12.
Since the matter relates to protection of fundamental rights of a large number of persons, the judge directed the senior registrar of the court to send a copy of the order to U.P. Chief…