UPSC Prelims 2019 Question:

Which Article of the Constitution of India safeguards one’s right to marry the person of one’s choice?

Explanation:

• Protection of life and personal liberty is a Fundamental Right under Article 21 of the Constitution which states that “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.”
  
  
• The Supreme Court held in the Shafin Jahan v. Ashokan K.M. (2018) case that right to marry a person of one’s choice is integral to Article 21 (Right to life and personal liberty) of the Constitution. The choice of a partner whether within or outside marriage lies within the exclusive domain of everyone. Intimacies of marriage lie within a core zone of privacy, which is inviolable.
  
  
• The Supreme Court held in T. M. Sharif v. Abdulla K. B. (2017) case that a girl who is not a minor can exercise her fundamental rights under Article 21 of the Constitution of India to choose her partner. Even the court does not have the authority to resist.
  
  

Therefore, option (2) is the correct answer.

Subject: Polity | Fundamental Rights