The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain an appeal by Haryana government against the Punjab and Haryana High Court order, granting a marriage certificate under the Special Marriage Act 1954, through video conferencing, as the wife was unable to travel from the US to India due to the Covid restrictions.

A bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and V. Ramasubramanian observed: "Law has to march along with technology." The bench noted the Act was enacted in 1954, whereas the computer and the Internet came many years later. "Where there is difficulty, the letter of law cannot be so rigid that it makes it impossible for the parties to follow," it said. The bench orally observed the government departments should facilitate the parties and not to create obstruction or hurdles for them.