Consider the following statements: 1. In India, the Special Marriage Act protects an individual if one enters into an interreligious marriage. 2. Right to marry a person of one’s choice is an integral aspect of one’s Fundamental Rights under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. 3. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights also resonates marital rights of every adult consenting individuals. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a)2 and 3 only
- (b)1 and 3 only
- (c)1, 2 and 3
- (d)1 only
Correct — C, 1, 2 and 3. Statement 1 is right: the Special Marriage Act, 1954 provides a civil form of marriage that does not require either party to change religion, so it is the statute an interfaith couple in India marries under and the one that protects the marriage's legal validity. Statement 2 is right: the Supreme Court has held repeatedly, notably in Shafin Jahan v. Asokan K.M. in 2018, that the choice of a partner is an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21. Statement 3 is right too: Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says that men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family, and that marriage requires the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
- (a)2 and 3 only — Drops the Special Marriage Act, which is the specific Indian legal mechanism for an interfaith marriage. Without it a couple of different faiths would have to marry under a personal law, usually requiring a conversion.
- (b)1 and 3 only — Drops the constitutional protection, but the right to marry a person of one's choice has been located squarely in Article 21 by the Supreme Court, and UPSC has itself asked that in CSE Prelims 2019.
- (d)1 only — Keeps the statute and rejects both the constitutional and the international guarantees, though all three are well established and operate at different levels — statute, Constitution and international declaration.
Marriage across religious lines in India is governed by three layers of protection. At the level of ordinary law, the Special Marriage Act, 1954 supplies a secular civil marriage available to any two people regardless of faith, with a notice period, registration and its own succession provisions. At the constitutional level, Article 21's guarantee of life and personal liberty has been read to include the autonomy to choose a partner, so the State and third parties cannot override that choice; the Supreme Court restated it in Shafin Jahan v. Asokan K.M. and in decisions on so-called honour crimes. At the international level, Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights records the same right in terms that expressly rule out limitation by race, nationality or religion.
The word 'resonates' in statement 3 is doing unusual work, and a candidate may hesitate over it — but the substance is exactly right, because Article 16 of the UDHR is the clearest international statement of marital rights for consenting adults. Statement 2 is the one to be certain about, since UPSC asked precisely that question in CSE Prelims 2019 and keyed Article 21. With statements 2 and 3 secure, statement 1 only needs a sanity check: no other Indian statute performs the interfaith function, so it stands. One present-day note is worth adding: the Supreme Court declined in 2023 to read same-sex marriage into the Special Marriage Act, leaving that to Parliament, so the Act's reach remains what it was at the time of this exam.
- The Special Marriage Act, 1954 provides a civil marriage open to any two persons irrespective of religion, without requiring conversion.
- The Supreme Court has held that the right to choose one's marriage partner is part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21.
- Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees the right to marry and found a family without limitation due to race, nationality or religion.
- Article 16 also requires the free and full consent of the intending spouses and recognises the family as the natural and fundamental group unit of society.
- Rejecting statement 3 because of its awkward wording; the UDHR's Article 16 says exactly what the statement claims.
- Assuming the right to marry a person of one's choice is under Article 19 or Article 25; the Court has located it in Article 21.
- Thinking the Special Marriage Act applies only to interfaith couples — it is open to any two persons who choose a civil marriage.
Asked as a three-statement code item stacking a statute, a constitutional right and an international instrument — a favourite CDS polity pattern.
Which Article of the Constitution of India safeguards one's right to marry the person of one's choice?
- (a) Article 19
- (b) Article 21
- (c) Article 25
- (d) Article 29
Answer(b) Article 21 — affirmed in Shafin Jahan v. Asokan K.M. and later decisions.
Statement 2 of this item, asked by UPSC as a standalone question five years earlier — the strongest possible confirmation that the constitutional half of this answer is settled.
Right to Privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of Right to Life and Personal Liberty. Which of the following in the Constitution of India correctly and appropriately imply the above statement?
- (a) Article 14 and the provisions under the 42nd Amendment Act
- (b) Article 17 and the Directive Principles of State Policy in Part IV
- (c) Article 21 and the freedoms guaranteed in Part III
- (d) Article 24 and the provisions under the 44th Amendment Act
Answer(c) Article 21 and the freedoms guaranteed in Part III
The same expansion of Article 21 tested on a neighbouring right. Privacy and the choice of a partner were read into life and personal liberty by the same line of reasoning.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Under which Article of the Constitution of India has the Supreme Court located the right to marry a person of one's choice?
- (a)Article 19
- (b)Article 21
- (c)Article 25
- (d)Article 29
Answer(b) Article 21 — as part of the right to life and personal liberty.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following is a distinguishing feature of a marriage solemnised under the Special Marriage Act, 1954?
- (a)Both parties must belong to the same religion
- (b)Neither party is required to renounce or change religion
- (c)It applies only to citizens resident abroad
- (d)It requires the consent of both families in writing
Answer(b) Neither party is required to renounce or change religion — that is precisely what makes it available to interfaith couples.