MP high court stays a single-bench order allowing interfaith marriage

The Jabalpur bench of the Madhya Pradesh high court on Friday stayed a single-jugde bench’s order allowing the marriage of a Hindu woman and a Muslim man under the Special Marriages Act (SMA).

The Jabalpur bench of the Madhya Pradesh high court on Friday stayed a single-jugde bench’s order allowing the marriage of a Hindu woman and a Muslim man under the Special Marriages Act (SMA), which regulates interfaith marriages.

MP high court stays a single-bench order allowing interfaith marriage

The development comes weeks after a single bench of justice Vishal Dhagat sent the Hindu woman to a government-run shelter to “think about her decision” to marry a Muslim man and asked her not to talk to him till November 12, when they are supposed to get married under the SMA.

According to the court details, the interfaith couple applied for marriage at the additional district magistrate office in Jabalpur on October 7. The woman’s family learnt about it after a notice from the ADM’s office seeking no objection on the marriage — as mandated under the Special Marriage Act, 1954 — before November 12. Days later, the woman’s father lodged a missing person’s complaint at the Rau police station on October 17 following objections and threats from some Hindu right-wing outfits.

The couple moved the high court in Jabalpur seeking police protection, saying they wanted to marry each other. They informed the court that they were in relationship for the last four years and in a live-in-relationship for the last one year. Hearing the matter on October 22, the HC asked the woman to think it over and ordered police protection for both the 29-year-old man and the 27-year-old woman, noting that every citizen has a “fundamental right” to decide about their personal life.

The woman’s father challenged the order, saying that he “didn’t get fair chance to present his side”. “The man and woman didn’t produce any evidence that proved that there was a risk to their lives. Considering this double bench stayed the order,” advocate Ashok Lalwani, who represented the father, told the court.

Taking note of the plea, the two-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and judge Vivek Jain issued notices to the couple and the state government, and maintaining that the October 22 order shall remain stayed. Now, the next hearing will take place after two weeks.