New Delhi, June 14 (IANS) The Supreme Court Monday asked a petitioner, seeking direction to the central government that marriages within ‘sagotra (same clan)’ be deemed prohibited relationship under the Hindu Marriage Act, to move the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
A vacation bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Deepak Verma and comprising Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan told senior counsel K.T.S. Tulsi that Naresh Kadyan, the petitioner of the public interest litigation, should move the high court in this regard.
The petition sought the provision to be included in the act for annulling same gotra (clan) marriages by anybody other than the parties to such marriages.
The petition said that medical science has proved time and again that marriages among close relatives might lead to genetic disorders in the offspring and allowing such marriages would play havoc with the fabric of society.
Under the Hindu custom ‘marriage is not allowed in same gotra (clan)’, the petition said.
The petition said that in some castes, sagotra marriages are prohibited within four gotras involving that of mother, father, grand mother and maternal grandmother of both the bride and the bridegroom.
The petition also sought the appointment of a commission headed by a retired judge of a high court or the Supreme Court to inquire if Hindus belonging to various castes in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and other states permit same gotra marriages.
The petitioner said that same gotra marriages violate the fundamental right to freedom of religion.
The petition said that the scientific basis prohibiting same gotra marriages were so strong that inbreeding is prohibited even in animals under section 9 of the Schedule of the Gazette notification of Ministry of Environment and Forests. The said notification is dated Nov 10, 2009.
