On the face of it, the judgment seems to have upheld the right to choose one’s life partner. In light of recent controversies over Khap Panchayats and murders over marriages transgressing class, caste and religious boundaries, this might seem to be a progressive judgment. However, it only contributes to regressive forces. It upholds the practice of child marriage, which has several negative implications for the girl child. Child marriages in India are forced marriages, with this case being an exception where child marriage is interlinked with the agency of the individual to choose. In promoting child marriages, the court negates any agency a girl may have possessed and allows her family to marry her off according to the patriarchy designed to suit their caste, class and religious interests.