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Sunday, February 22, 2026
TopicSpecial Marriage Act

Topic: Special Marriage Act

Forget UCC, amending the Special Marriage Act can do more for gender justice

Everyone needs to understand that a sort of UCC already exists in the form of the Special Marriage Act, 1954.

Rationalists look for love in new India. Kerala’s Secular Matrimony swipes left on religion

Kerala-based Secular Matrimony champions interfaith love, atheism, and progressive values. Rationalist parents use it to arrange matches for their children.

Arya Samaj weddings are in trouble. Courts cracking down on certificates, conversions

Judges are rejecting Arya Samaj certificates, flagging ‘fake’ documents, questioning short-cut conversions, and ordering probes into rogue outfits using its name.

Don’t make people endure marriage. Not allowing divorce in Indian law is cruel: Hiren Mukherjee

On 17 September 1954, during a debate on the Special Marriage Bill, CPI MP Hirendranath Mukherjee argued that marriage as an institution must evolve to reflect human dignity and compassion.

HC order puts focus on children born of invalid marriages. What law says about their rights

Saying birth of such children must be viewed independently of their parents' relationship, Himachal HC has ruled that registration of birth in panchayat records can't be denied.

This Hindu-Muslim relationship blossomed despite the Babri Masjid riots in 1992

In 'Intimacy in Alienation: A Psychoanalytic Study of Hindu-Muslim Relationships', Ashis Roy analyses the psycho-social aspects of Hindu-Muslim relationships.

HC denies protection to interfaith couple seeking to marry under Special Marriage Act. What law says

MP court declares Hindu-Muslim marriage invalid under Muslim Personal Law, even if registered under SMA. Legal experts say judge's interpretation of ‘prohibited relationship’ is ‘flawed’.

Three SC judges are set to retire by May 2024. Here are the key cases pending their decisions

From abrogation of Article 370 to whether there should be sub-quotas in the SC/ST reservation, Justices S.K. Kaul, Aniruddha Bose, & A.S. Bopanna have several cases pending before them. 

Marriage as institution precedes state — SC’s majority view on same-sex marriage

SC’s majority bench unanimously rejected central govt’s submission that queerness is an urban and elitist concept’. However, the court also ruled out a civil union for such couples. 

There are pre-conditions in Special Marriage Act that same-sex marriage debate is ignoring

Recognition of same-sex marriage will eliminate legal differences between men and women, which is essential to sustain protective discrimination on the basis of gender.

On Camera

Youth Congress, your foolish protest helped the Modi govt climb out of the AI summit hole

In tactical terms, the shirtless protest was worse than a self-goal. Suddenly, the fiascos of the AI Summit were forgotten, and the Youth Congress’s disruption became the issue.

In the West, there’s anxiety. In India, optimism—Rishi Sunak says India poised to be leader in AI

On Wednesday, the former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was speaking in New Delhi at a Carnegie & Observer Research Foundation event on AI.

MoD, IAF agree on some exemptions to HAL for Tejas Mk1A, but no compromise on ‘must-have’ capabilities

IAF is fine with accepting the aircraft with 'must-haves', even if some other steps remain pending, which may take at least another year, it is learnt.

No country is ever fully sovereign. Cold War era taught India its real meaning

India’s fraught neighbourhood places multiple constraints on its strategic choices. It leaves no time to take a deep breath, lean back and reset.