Legal Journey

Few constitutional phrases have shaped Indian freedom as much as the selection between the terms “procedure established by law” and “due process of law.” These doctrines, though separated by only a few words, represent fundamentally different visions of the relationship between the State and the individual.

Rights form the backbone of a constitutional democracy. In India, the safeguarding of liberty, dignity, and equality is ensured through two complementary frameworks, namely., Human rights and Fundamental rights. Though these concepts have similar goals, they have a difference in terms of its origin, legal authority, and enforcement mechanisms.

Indian family law has traditionally conceptualised marriage as a union between spouses or families, while treating the child as a derivative subject whose legal relevance emerges primarily at the point of marital breakdown. This paper challenges that framing by foregrounding the child as an ever-present yet structurally invisible participant within the institution of marriage itself.