Legally Speaking, It’s Not Love

A recent Karnataka High Court judgment has observed that ‘girls below the age 21 years are not capable of forming a rational judgment as to suitability of the boy, who is in love’.

A recent Karnataka High Court judgment has observed that ‘girls below the age 21 years are not capable of forming a rational judgment as to suitability of the boy, who is in love’. This was in response to a petition by a man seeking to be reunited with his wife, whose family, he stated, was denying him access to her. It adds, ‘It is relevant to mention that those girls, who are suffering from hormonal imbalance easily fall prey to the boys and fall in love, marry and repent at leisure.’ Dismissing the habeas corpus and directing the police to arrest the petitioner on the charge of kidnapping, the judges also suggested that the Hindu Marriage Act be amended with respect to love marriages to make parents’ approval mandatory in case the girl is below 21 years. Reacting to the High Court’s judgment, advocate Vrinda Grover describes it as “extremely orthodox”. “The Supreme Court and Law Ministry should take note of a judgment like this,” she says.

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Pallavi Polanki