STATE, SOCIETY AND SELF: AUTONOMY AND RELIGION INVOLVED IN MARRIAGES IN INDIA
AUTHOR – GAAYATHRI KALUBANDI, STUDENT AT CHRIST (DEEMED TO BE UNIVERSITY), BANGALORE
BEST CITATION – GAAYATHRI KALUBANDI, STATE, SOCIETY AND SELF: AUTONOMY AND RELIGION INVOLVED IN MARRIAGES IN INDIA, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 6 (1) OF 2026, PG. 260-265, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.
ABSTRACT
The institution of marriage in India stands at a critical juncture, caught between the constitutional promise of individual liberty and the persistent influence of religious patriarchal norms codified into law. This paper examines the complex interplay between religious influence, state law, and individual autonomy within the institution of marriage in India. It posits that the current legal framework, which intertwines religious personal laws with a procedurally burdensome secular alternative, systematically undermines fundamental rights and creates significant risks for gender justice and social harmony. The analysis traces the historical entrenchment of patriarchal norms within matrimonial customs, demonstrating how these traditions have been codified into law, thereby restricting personal choice and perpetuating inequality. A central focus is the critical assessment of the secular marriage law, whose well-intentioned provisions have been subverted into a mechanism for state-sanctioned surveillance and communal interference, particularly endangering interfaith couples. The paper further explores how this flawed legal environment fosters detrimental outcomes, including the manipulation of religious conversion to circumvent legal restrictions, often to the detriment of women’s rights. In conclusion, the research advocates for a decisive re-orientation towards a rights-based paradigm, arguing that genuine marital freedom requires dismantling the architecture of control and prioritizing constitutional guarantees of privacy, equality, and individual autonomy over rigid religious-social mandates.
KEYWORDS: Marriage, caste, choice, autonomy, equality, patriarchy, state, society