Gujarat: Bhupendra Patel, Gujarat Chief Minister, says that his government will go through the constitutional feasibility of implementing a system requiring parental consent in love marriages. He said this while addressing Gujarat’s Mehsana, organised by the Sardar Patel Group, representing the Patidar community.
He said, “Rushikesh Patel told me to look afresh and carry out a study into the incidents of the elopement of girls 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.”
Congress MLA Imran Khedawala while supporting the decision said, “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.”
In 2021, the Gujarat government made amendments to the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act, criminalizing forced or fraudulent religious conversions through marriage, carrying a penalty of up to 10 years in prison. Nevertheless, the high court suspended specific sections of the Act that faced challenges in the Supreme Court, where the matter is currently pending.
