Bhupendra Patel, the chief minister of Gujarat, has stated that if a system requiring parental consent for love marriages is constitutionally possible, his administration will investigate it.
He made this statement in response to the Patidar community’s demand that love marriages require parental consent.
Speaking at a gathering on Sunday in Mehsana put on by the Sardar Patel Group, an organisation that advocates for the Patidar community, chief minister Bhupendra Patel claimed state health minister Rushikesh Patel had instructed him to commission a study into the instances of girls running away to wed in order to establish a system where parental approval is required for marriages.
‘(Patel) told me to look afresh and carry out a study into the incidents of elopement of girls so as to see if there is a possibility of (mandatory) consent of parents into (love marriages). If the Constitution supports it, then we will carry out a study regarding this and try to get the best result for this,’ he said.
A member of the opposition Congress declared that he would support any legislation of this kind that the government brought before the assembly.
‘At a time when parents are neglected in love marriages, the government is thinking of creating a specific system regarding love marriages that is constitutionally feasible,’ MLA Imran Khedawala said.
‘The CM has assured to get a study conducted on mandatory parental approval in love marriages. The chief minister has spoken about this. If the government brings such law in the assembly session, then my support is with the government,’ he said.
The Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act, which criminalises forceful or dishonest religious conversion by marriage, was revised by the state government in 2021.
If found guilty, a person might face up to 10 years in prison under the modified Act.
Later, the Gujarat High Court suspended some disputed parts of the Act; however, this decision was appealed in the Supreme Court, where it is still pending.
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