Madras High Court: While dismissing the petition challenging the validity of Section 7-A of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, the Division Bench of S.K. Kaul, C.J. and T.S. Sivagananam, J. relying on the decision of S.Nagalingam v. Sivagami, (2001) 7 SCC 487, upheld the validity of Section 7-A [as inserted by the Hindu Marriage (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 1967] as the provision applies to any marriage between two Hindus solemnized in the presence of relatives, friends or other persons and that the presence of a Priest is not mandatory for the performance of a valid marriage.
In the present petition it was contended that Section 7-A is ultra vires the Section 7 (which mandates the Saptapadi) read with Section 3(a) of the Hindu Marriage Act and contrary to the tenets of Hinduism. The petitioner appearing for himself, also contended that the impugned provision violates Article 14 of the Constitution.
The Court however refused to entertain the arguments raised by the petitioner and observed that Section 7-A mainly provides for a particular type of marriage i.e. the Suyamariyathai marriages which has been in prevalence for over half a century and thus the impugned provision cannot be declared invalid on the ground of discrimination as it is the prerogative of the parties to enter into matrimony as according to the requisites of Section 7 or Section 7-A of the Hindu Marriage Act. The Court further stated that there is a presumption in favour of the constitutionality of an enactment and unless the petitioner proves that the enactment has transgressed any of the Constitutional principles. [A. Asuvathaman v. Union of India, 2015 SCC OnLine Mad 9765, decided on 30.10.2015]