Last year, the Maharashtra government had announced the formation of a panel on inter-faith marriages, which had sparked concern amongst many. Now, as per a response received by Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh from the government ministry, even after months have passed since the setting up of the 12 member Inter-faith Marriage-Family Coordination Committee, there are currently zero cases before the panel.
On February 16, the Samajwadi Party MLA had written to the Maharashtra Women and Development Ministry, inquiring about the number of cases before the committee till date, and their details. On Monday, March 20, Rais Shaikh received a response stating that there was currently no case before the committee, as reported by Hindustan Times.
This comes just days after Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Maharashtra Women and Child Development Minister and BJP leader, had announced that the state of Maharashtra had over one lakh ‘love jihad’ cases. The BJP leader made the remark during the Maharashtra Assembly Budget Session. Lodha had stated that “Maharashtra had more than one lakh cases of love jihad, which upset society.” he had then said that “the state government’s interfaith marriage committee has no say in anyone’s personal life or religion. But we want to avoid another Shraddha Walkar case. This is the government’s responsibility.”
Pursuant to this, the SP state president and MLA, Abu Asim Azmi, announced that he has filed a privilege motion against the minister for making false claims in the state assembly. “However, no response has yet been received from the legislature administration.” Azmi had further stated that if the privilege motion against Lodha is not approved by the Assembly, he will take the minister to court. “A group of people is attempting to polarise Maharashtra by making bogus claims of ‘love jihad,’ which are far from the reality on the ground,” he said, as was reported by the Hindustan Times.
Mangal Prabhat Lodha had also claimed last month that the 12-member committee had already received 152 complaints, which was obviously misleading information as it has now been revealed that the committee has not received a single complaint. R. Vimla, commissioner, women and child development, confirmed that the committee has not received a single complaint. She also serves on the interfaith committee, which is led by Lodha.
Plea challenging interfaith marriage panel allowed to be filed as PIL
On March 20, a writ petition filed by Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh challenging the Maharashtra government’s resolution (GR) setting up the interfaith marriage family coordination committee was allowed by the Bombay High Court to be filed as a Public Interest Litigation (PIL). Rais Shaikh had filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court challenging the Maharashtra Government notification on March 9.
The petition stated that the government resolution is discriminatory against a particular religion and is violative of Articles 14 (right to equality), Article 15 (forbidding discrimination), 21 (right to life which includes the right to privacy), and 25.
“That the assumption that adult women who choose and consent to marry someone from another faith need to be ‘saved’ is misplaced and goes against the spirit of the Constitution,” the plea states adding that, “without the couple having any control on who has access to their private information (GR) is contributory to the ever ongoing campaign of the parents, vigilante groups & society to control the lives of young people who have decided to choose their own partners.”
Thus, through the plea now allowed filed as a PIL, Shaikh claims that the government resolution aims to create a false narrative and negatively influence public perception of a specific religious sect, that it is discriminatory against a specific religion, and that it encourages division among people rather than harmony, coexistence, assimilation, and peace.
Brief about the government resolution and the panel
The Maharashtra Government had issued the impugned GR on December 13, 2022 following the gruesome murder of Shraddha Walkar in Delhi allegedly by her inter-faith live-in partner and the committee is allegedly meant to provide a platform to ‘counsel, communicate and resolve’ issues between couples and families. According to the GR, the committee can intervene at the behest of any person, which the plea alleges is a breach of the couple’s privacy “especially when two consenting adults are married to each other”. According to the GR, the committee can seek information of both registered and unregistered marriages.
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