IJSSER

Title: A TALE OF TWO LAWS: SPECIAL MARRIAGE ACT AND ANTI CONVERSION LAW IN INDIA
Authors: Riona Basu
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Riona Basu PhD Research Scholar, Centre for Study of Social Systems (CSSS), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi-110019
MLA 8 Basu, Riona. "A TALE OF TWO LAWS: SPECIAL MARRIAGE ACT AND ANTI CONVERSION LAW IN INDIA." Int. j. of Social Science and Economic Research, vol. 8, no. 9, Sept. 2023, pp. 2803-2808, doi.org/10.46609/IJSSER.2023.v08i09.022. Accessed Sept. 2023. APA 6 Basu, R. (2023, September). A TALE OF TWO LAWS: SPECIAL MARRIAGE ACT AND ANTI CONVERSION LAW IN INDIA. Int. j. of Social Science and Economic Research, 8(9), 2803-2808. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.46609/IJSSER.2023.v08i09.022 Chicago Basu, Riona. "A TALE OF TWO LAWS: SPECIAL MARRIAGE ACT AND ANTI CONVERSION LAW IN INDIA." Int. j. of Social Science and Economic Research 8, no. 9 (September 2023), 2803-2808. Accessed September, 2023. https://doi.org/10.46609/IJSSER.2023.v08i09.022.
References [1]. Akhtar, Majid et.al. (2006) Distribution of power and responsibilities in Federal Countries. McGill Queen University Press. [2]. Bhandare, Namita and Surbhi Karwa (2020): “How The Special Marriage Act Is Killing Love”. Aritcle 14 https://www.article-14.com/post/how-the-special-marriage-act-is-killing-love [3]. Bhattacharya, Abhik (2021): “Anti-Conversion Laws In India: Are We Ready To Debate Presumptions, Prejudices And Preferences?” Outlook https://www.outlookindia.com/national/anti-conversion-laws-in-india-are-we-ready-to-debate-presumptions-prejudices-and-preferences--news-241476 [4]. Karwa, Surbhi (2021): “Allahabad HC Order on Special Marriage Act Is Progressive. But Is It Enough?” The Wire. https://thewire.in/rights/allahabad-hc-order-on-special-marriage-act-is-progressive-but-is-it-enough [5]. Mody, P. (2002). Love and the Law: Love-Marriage in Delhi. Modern Asian Studies, 36(1), 223–256. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3876697 [6]. Sahu, Manisha (2023): “1 month of UP ‘love jihad’ law: 14 cases, 49 in jail, woman ‘victim’ complainant in only two,” The Indian Express https://indianexpress.com/article/india/love-jihad-law-up-police-7124001/ [7]. Scroll Staff (2021): “Giving public notice of marriage under Special Marriage Act not mandatory, rules Allahabad HC,” Scroll https://scroll.in/latest/983945/giving-public-notice-of-marriage-under-special-marriage-act-not-mandatory-rules-allahabad-hc [8]. Sharma Saurabh (2020): “Indian State criminalises ‘forced’ religious conversion by marriage,” Reuters https://www.reuters.com/article/india-religion-marriage-idCAKBN2842US [9]. Sinha, Bhadra (2021): “’Compels conversion, violates liberty’: Why the Allahabad High Court ripped into the Special Marriage Act,” The Print https://theprint.in/judiciary/compels-conversion-violates-liberty-why-allahabad-hc-ripped-into-special-marriage-act/769980/ [10]. Staff Desk (2022): “Anti Conversion Laws in India,” Vakil Search https://vakilsearch.com/blog/anti-conversion-laws/ [11]. The Hindu Bureau (2023): “Same-Sex Marriage Hearing: The case so far,” The Hindu https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/same-sex-marriage-hearing-the-case-so-far/article66780919.ece [12]. Tholpuruni, Sindhuja Goud (2022): “Challenging the Special Marriage Act, 1954,” Jus Corpus Law Journal, Pp. 506-518.
ABSTRACT: This paper is exploratory in nature and utilizes qualitative methods to understand the implications of two laws. The Special Marriage Act (SMA) of 1954 allows for inter-religious marriage and is heralded as a ‘liberal law’ which does not identify people based on parochial identity but sees them as ‘individuals’. However, the administrative workings of SMA suggest otherwise: giving a month’s notice, and calling for three witnesses, makes it a nightmare for those navigating it in the context of inter-religious marriages in India. Combined with anticonversion laws, which by now twelve states of India have already passed, the moral vigilantism by right-wingers in case of such marriages and over-enthusiastic marriage officers who go beyond the law to question and act on objections, make SMA unattractive. In the background of the queer marriage hearing ongoing in the Supreme Court, which is calling for the amendment of the SMA to allow same-sex marriages, begs the question, can two calls for changes- one progressive and the other regressive be accommodated by the Indian state?

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