INTRODUCTION
In India, where marriage is nearly common, there are several important factors to take into account while choosing a partner. Caste, religion, mother tongue, economic situation, and others are a few of the more significant ones. The most crucial of these is if the two merging families belong to the same community. Any marriage that crosses caste, linguistic-cultural, and/or religious sect borders and is incompatible with a recognised system of communal familial relations is referred to as an intercommunity marriage. When one person belonging to a certain caste marries outside the community with a person belonging to another caste, it is termed as an inter-caste marriage. To understand the origins of the intercaste marriage scheme, Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar’s “Annihilation of Caste” must be considered where he suggested the termination of the caste system prevailing in India. Dr. Ambedkar said “I am convinced that the real remedy is inter marriage. Fusion of blood can alone create the feeling of kinship, of being kindred, becomes paramount, the separatist feeling–the feeling of being aliens–created by caste will not vanish.”
LAWS PROTECTING INTER CASTE MARRIAGES
Special Marriage Act, 1954 is a law passed by the Indian Parliament that allows for civil marriages between Indian citizens and all other Indian nationals living abroad, regardless of the couple's respective religious beliefs or the caste and community they belong from. The Special Marriage Act, rather than personal laws, governs a marriage when it is solemnised in accordance with this law. Section 4 of the SMA has the conditions relating to solemnization of special marriages as:
Neither party has a living spouse
Neither party is incapable of giving a valid consent because of unsoundness of mind, mental disorder or insanity
Male has completed the age of 21 years and the female age of 18 years
Parties are not within the degrees of prohibited relationship
The parties marrying need to give a notice to the Marriage Officer of the area where any one of the party had been living for at least 30 days according to Section 5 and Section 6.
Dr. B.R Ambedkar Scheme for Social Integration through Inter Caste Marriage: The scheme grants Rs 2.5 lakh for unions in which one spouse is a member of the Dalit caste and the other is a member of any other community. There is no income bar for couples applying under such marriage benefits. The very purpose of intercaste marriage privileges is to encourage marriage between people of different castes, slowly killing off the caste system in India that is steadily destroying Indian society.
JUDICIARY ON INTER CASTE MARRIAGES
In Shafin Jahan v. Asokan K.M., the Supreme Court quashed the decision given by the High Court where the latter court invoked the doctrine of Parens Patriae (parent of the nation). It was held by the Supreme Court that the girl is free to live as per her choice as she was not a minor. This case made Right to Marry a person of one’s own choice a part of Art. 21 of the Constitution.
In Lata Singh v. State of U.P., not only did the Court upheld the inter community marriage but also directed the state machinery throughout the country to take steps and must ensure that a couple belonging to different castes or religions must not face violence or harassment. The problem of Khap Panchayats was also dealt with the court deciding that such panchayats are totally wrong and illegal. Honour killings are nothing but barbaric and shameful and thus, such actions need to be dealt strictly with strict punishments. The case was cited in the honour killing case of Arumugam Servai v. State of Tamil Nadu.
Rameshbhai Dabhai Naika v. State of Gujarat spoke about the status of the child born from an inter-community marriage. The general assumption in these cases are if the father belongs to a forward class and the mother belongs to a backward class then the child will have the status of a forward class citizen.
In several High Court Judgements as in the case of Sujit Kumar v. State of U.P and Reena John & Anr. V. Director General of Police & Ors, the court were of the opinion that there is no prohibition of inter-caste or inter-community marriage in the law and a sane person above the age of 18 shall be allowed to make its own decisions and the parents cannot legally take an action against such couple.
CONCLUSION
Now, as the rate of inter-caste and inter-community marriages have been increased to approx.10% of the total number of marriages in India, it is just a beginning to completely eradicating the caste system in India. Due to the effects of modernization, socioeconomic progress, and the globalisation of the Indian economy, this change in the marriage pattern in India is. seen The pattern of intercaste marriages in India is also influenced by a number of socioeconomic and demographic variables. In contrast to the socioeconomically backward northern Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, and Rajasthan, there appears to be a higher rate of intercaste marriages in socioeconomically prosperous states like Punjab, Haryana, Assam, Maharashtra, and Karnataka. Educating people and increased modernization shall reduce the taboo surrounding inter-faith, inter-religion, inter-caste and inter-community marriages.
REFERENCES
Case Laws:
Shafin Jahan v. Asokan K.M., 2018 SCC OnLine SC 343
Lata Singh v. State of U.P., (2006)5 SCC 475
Arumugam Servai v. State of Tamil Nadu, (2011) 6 SCC 405
Rameshbhai Dabhai Naika v. State of Gujarat, (2012) 3 SCC 400
Sujit Kumar v. State of U.P, LNIND 2002 ALL 638
Reena John & Anr. V. Director General of Police & Ors, LNIND 2009 KER 8
Legal Databases:
SCC Online
Lexis Nexis
Acts:
Special Marriage Act, Act No. 43, Acts of Parliament, 1954 (India)
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