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Marriage – Marital status - A marriage can be dissolved at the behest of parties to it, by a competent court of law - Marital status is conferred through legislation or, as the case may be, custom - Deprivation of marital status is a matter of serious import and must be strictly in accordance with law - Habeas corpus - The exercise of the jurisdiction to declare the marriage null and void, while entertaining a petition for habeas corpus, is plainly in excess of judicial power. (Dr. D. Y. Chandrachud, J)
Held,
The High Court in the exercise of its jurisdiction under Article 226 ought not to have embarked on the course of annulling the marriage. The Constitution recognises the liberty and autonomy which inheres in each individual. This includes the ability to take decisions on aspects which define one's personhood and identity. The choice of a partner whether within or outside marriage lies within the exclusive domain of each individual. Intimacies of marriage lie within a core zone of privacy, which is inviolable. The absolute right of an individual to choose a life partner is not in the least affected by matters of faith. The Constitution guarantees to each individual the right freely to practise, profess and propagate religion. Choices of faith and belief as indeed choices in matters of marriage lie within an area where individual autonomy is supreme. The law prescribes conditions for a valid marriage. It provides remedies when relationships run aground. Neither the state nor the law can dictate a choice of partners or limit the free ability of every person to decide on these matters. They form the essence of personal liberty under the Constitution. In deciding whether Shafin Jahan is a fit person for Hadiya to marry, the High Court has entered into prohibited terrain. Our choices are respected because they are ours. Social approval for intimate personal decisions is not the basis for recognising them. Indeed, the Constitution protects personal liberty from disapproving audiences. (Dr. D. Y. Chandrachud, J)
Constitution of India, Article 21 - Right to marry a person of one's choice - The right to marry a person of one's choice is integral to Article 21 of the Constitution - The Constitution guarantees the right to life - This right cannot be taken away except through a law which is substantively and procedurally fair, just and reasonable - Intrinsic to the liberty which the Constitution guarantees as a fundamental right is the ability of each individual to take decisions on matters central to the pursuit of happiness - Matters of belief and faith, including whether to believe are at the core of constitutional liberty - The Constitution exists for believers as well as for agnostics - The Constitution protects the ability of each individual to pursue a way of life or faith to which she or he seeks to adhere - Matters of dress and of food, of ideas and ideologies, of love and partnership are within the central aspects of identity - The law may regulate (subject to constitutional compliance) the conditions of a valid marriage, as it may regulate the situations in which a marital tie can be ended or annulled - These remedies are available to parties to a marriage for it is they who decide best on whether they should accept each other into a marital tie or continue in that relationship - Society has no role to play in determining our choice of partners - The strength of the Constitution, therefore, lies in the guarantee which it affords that each individual will have a protected entitlement in determining a choice of partner to share intimacies within or outside marriage. (Dr. D. Y. Chandrachud, J)
2018 SCeJ 1004 SHAFIN JAHAN v. ASOKAN K.M
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