Minor hitch to Jr NTR’s marriage

An advocate has approached the Machilipatnam Legal Services Authority seeking its intervention to keep the marriage of Jr NTR to Lakshmi Pranathi on hold till the girl becomes a major.The secretary of the authority and magistrate, Gurappa Naidu, issued notices to all the respondents - TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, Jr NTR’s father and MP, Nandamuri Harikrishna and the girl’s father Narne Srinivasa Rao and posted the case to February 24.
Curiously, the petitioner did not name either Jr NTR or bride Lakshmi Pranathi as respondents.
Advocate S Santhi Prasad contended that he was filing the petition only to stop an illegal marriage to be performed by the famed personalities who were also legislators. He said he had come to know through news reports on Friday that film star Jr NTR was going tie the knot with Lakshmi Pranathi, daughter of a realtor and chairman of a Telugu news channel Studio N. He said he learned through the news reports that the girl was only of 17 years, and according to the law, she was a minor.
Stating that performing Jr NTR’s marriage with a minor would not only be illegal but also send wrong signals to society at large as all those involved were responsible people and also law makers, he urged the court to direct the respondents not to perform the marriage till the girl becomes major.
Reports, however, said the ‘young tiger’ will not lose sleep over it because when the wedding takes place, Lakshmi Pranathi will turn 18 if one were to go by what Chandrababu Naidu has reportedly informed the Machilipatnam Legal Services Authority.
But the ‘minor’ issue is something that will trouble the NTR household.
“Clearly, it is invalid consent from the girl as she is still a minor. Of course, no consent is given on paper to be challenged in the court of law but quite obviously, the spirit of the law will be violated if the marriage takes place,” advocate L Ravichander said.