‘Will study possibility of mandating parents’ consent in love marriages’: Gujarat CM

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has said that his government will look into the possibility of making parental consent mandatory in love marriages “within the ambit of the Constitution.” Speaking at a Patidar (a dominant community in Gujarat) community event on Sunday, July 30, the Chief Minister said that the state Health Minister Rushikeshbhai Patel had discussed with him that there was a need to “relook” at incidents of elopement and a study should be conducted “so that something can be done to ensure parental consent is present in love marriages.” “If the Constitution does not become a hindrance, we will carry out a study on that. And we will try to ensure that good results are achieved based on the study,” Bhupendra Patel said.

The Chief Minister’s remarks invited praise from the Congress in the Opposition. According to the Indian Express, Congress MLA Imran Khedawala wrote to Bhupendra Patel on Monday, expressing his support for the plan. He claimed that this wasn’t a Hindu-Muslim issue but concerned two families. Imran told the Indian Express, “The woman’s family breaks down and is unable to face the society when she elopes. Parents raise their children, so their consent should be mandatory. I know many cases where women left their houses against the wishes of their parents but regretted it later.”

The announcement from the state’s Chief Minister months after Congress MLA Genibem Thakore and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Fatesinh Chauhan’s demand for an amendment in the state’s marriage law to include parental consent. According to the Indian Express, the two MLAs asked for the Gujarat Registration of Marriages Act, 2009 to be amended for love marriages to be registered in the same taluk as the woman’s residence, in the presence of local witnesses and with her parents’ consent.