Why in the News?

Thailand's king has signed a marriage equality bill that officially recognizes same-sex unions. The law grants couples adoption and inheritance rights, using gender-neutral terms instead of 'husbands, wives, men, and women. This makes Thailand the first country in Southeast Asia to legalize same-sex unions.

Legality of Same-Sex Marriages in India:

• The right to marry is not expressly recognized either as a fundamental or constitutional right under the Indian Constitution but a statutory right.
• Though marriage is regulated through various statutory enactments, its recognition as a fundamental right has only developed through judicial decisions of India’s Supreme Court. Such declaration of law is binding on all courts throughout India under Article 141 of the Constitution.

About Special Marriage Act (SMA) 1954

• The Special Marriage Act (SMA), 1954 is an Indian law that provides a legal framework for the marriage of people belonging to different religions or castes.
• It governs a civil marriage where the state sanctions the marriage rather than the religion.
• The Indian system, where both civil and religious marriages are recognised, is similar to the laws in the UK’s Marriage Act of 1949.
• Features:
  • Allows people from two different religious backgrounds to come together in the bond of marriage.
  • Lays down the procedure for both solemnization and registration of marriage, where either of the husband or wife or both are not Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, or Sikhs.
  • Being a secular Act, it plays a key role in liberating individuals from traditional requirements of marriage.

Note: Other countries who legalized the same sex marriage are Taiwan and Nepal.