DR. AMBEDKAR AND THE HINDU CODE BILL 231
At present, if a Hindu wants to marry outside his caste, it is not as if he cannot effect his purpose by resort to falsehood. According to the Arya Marriage Validation Act he can very well marry any Hindu outside his caste. Supposing a person does not belong to Arya Samaj, why should he have recourse to falsehood to effect his purpose ? Therefore, the thing which the law should care about is that persons be enabled to do things in a legal manner. I also know that according to the provisions of the Special Marriage Act (Act III of 1872) it was possible for a Hindu to contract a marriage under its unamended provisions provided he declared that he was a non-Hindu while continuing to be a Hindu. A very nice paradox is given in the Hindu Code by H. S. Gour in para 457. This is what it says:
“It will thus be seen that the Special Marriage (Amendment) Act has created a paradox. If the Hindu declares himself to be a non-Hindu and marries, he remains subject to Hindu Law. If he does not so declare, he ceases to be subject to Hindu Law, giving rise to a conundrum : When is a Hindu a non-Hindu ? The answer is : When he marries as a Hindu under the Special Marriage (Amendment) Act.”
When the Act of 1923 was passed—I have read the proceedings of that time—it appears that Dr, Gour was driven to a corner and he had to accept a situation which would never have been accepted had he been free. According to the Special Marriage (Amendment) Act, the situation is very strange. If a person wants to marry outside his religion, say, a Hindu wants to marry a non-Hindu, then under the Amendment Act, “their previous rights are un-affected to the extent provided in the Caste Disabilities Removal Act.” But yet what happens if they marry ? The disability which they will suffer from, I am going to describe from Gour’s Hindu Law. “Their previous rights are unaffected to the extent provided in the Caste Disabilities Removal Act. They no longer possess the right of adoption. And if the person so marrying is an adopted son, his adoptive father may, if so chooses, make another adoption.” So mat the poor man who wants to marry, his rights as an adopted son go away and his father is competent to have another adoption. Then, “such marriage has the effect of dissolving the joint family.” This is another very great disability. If a person wants to marry a non-Hindu, he must cease to be a Hindu so far as the joint family is concerned. Then, “ succession to their property and to the property of their issue is regulated by the Indian Succession Act.” My humble submission is that there is no reason why we should undergo these disabilities. Why should a man wants to marry a non-Hindu suffer from these things, which go to show