Plea filed before Bombay High Court against State decision to set up Inter-Faith Marriage Family Coordination Committee

A petition has been filed before the Bombay High Court challenging the decision of the Maharashtra government to set up an Inter-Faith Marriage Family Coordination Committee in the State [Rais Shaikh vs State of Maharashtra]..The petition filed by Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Rais Shaikh from Samajwadi Party, has contended that the said committee is violative of Article 14 (right to equality), Article 15 (forbidding discrimination), 21 (right to life which includes the right to privacy), and 25 (right to freedom of religion) of the Constitution of India..Reportedly, the committee comprising nearly 13 members would be headed by BJP MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha, who has been in news for his statements on Hindus facing threats in a Muslim dominated area of Mumbai.The committee will be obtaining information from registrars, who have registered marriages of couples under the Special Marriage Act, or inter-faith marriages and also from places of worship where such marriages have taken place.Then, the committee would get in touch with women in such marriages and seek to know from them if their families have accepted the marriage. With this information, the committee will then communicate with the woman's family and hold counselling sessions for them to accept the marriage..Shaikh has alleged that the government resolution (GR) to set up the committee seeks to create a false narrative and influence negatively the public perception about a particular religious sect. "The government resolution is discriminatory against a particular religion and encourages divide amongst people instead of harmony, co-existence, assimilation, and peace. It has been passed unilaterally and in extreme haste under suspicious circumstances without following the due procedure and is thus also ultra vires to the Constitution," the plea filed through advocate Jeet Gandhi states..According to the MLA, this is an attempt by the government to discourage and forbid inter-faith marriages and is a pre-cursor to laws related to alleged 'Love Jihad' marriages.Many such laws have been stayed by High Courts in numerous States across the country, it has been submitted."The impugned GR is also violative in so far as it provides that an action can be taken under the Government Resolution and information sought about the same from the Registrar on the complaint or representation by any person which is vide and is violative of a person right to privacy especially when two consenting adults are married to each other," the plea reads. .Through the plea, the MLA has sought a direction to the State to withdraw the said GR and declare that the same is in violation of the provisions of the Special Marriage Act.