MP HC sets aside Single Bench Directions on Marriage through Arya Samaj Mandir Management

Gwalior Bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court on Tuesday set aside a slew of directions passed by the Single Judge of the Court, on the procedure to be followed when a couple opts to marry through the Arya Samaj. These included making it the responsibility of the management of the Arya Samaj Mandir to issue notice to the parents of the couple, invite objections, verify their age and residential address, and maintain documentation and visuals of the entire process.

The directions were passed in October last year, and were now challenged by a bunch of Petitions filed by various branches of the Arya Samaj. The Petitioners had contended that the Court could not have issued the directions as internal rules have already been framed by Arya Samaj authorities. They had further contended that the Judge could not have issued such directions on a habeas corpus Petition, and that the High Court is not permitted to create such laws.

Agreeing with such contentions, the Bench comprising Justice N.K. Gupta and Justice S.K. Awasthi took note of the Supreme Court rulings in the case of Union of India and another v. Deoki Nandan Aggarwal, AIR 1992 SC 96 and Balram Kumawat v. Union of India, (2003) 7 SCC 628. The Apex Court had, in these cases, observed that it was not upon the judiciary to legislate.

The Bench then set aside the impugned order, and observed, “From perusal of directions issued by learned Single Judge, it is apparent that some of those were contrary to the provisions of the Arya Marriage Validation Act 1937 and internal rules framed under that Act and some of them do not fall within the prerequisites of a valid marriage. Also, when there is no vacuum, the learned Single Judge was not competent to legislate such rules in the shape of directions. Consequently, such directions given by the Single Bench cannot be upheld.”

Read the Judgment Here