Evolution of the institution of marriage and family

Think of a Mumbai wedding: a hall booked months ahead, a priest or maulvi or pastor, a registrar's appointment squeezed in afterwards, and two families negotiating who sits where. Underneath the decoration sit very old questions. Is a marriage a holy bond, a contract between two adults, or a status the State hands out? And who counts as family once the wedding is over? This topic traces how Indian law moved from one answer to another, and why today it gives several answers at once.

In two minutes

Indian marriage law moved from community-enforced religious rules to community-specific statutes, and the family it governs has moved from the joint household towards the individual and the couple.

The rest of this chapter

The full explanation, the cheat sheet, every previous-year question at every mark weight, the quiz and the answer skeletons are part of Family Law – II on LexBlox Semester. Sign in to unlock the subject, or read Module 1 of Legal Language and Writing free.