Addressing a meeting organised to initiate a national campaign against the judgment here on Saturday, Grover said the right to marry is a fundamental right, and no court of law can `suspend' it. He said the apex court should not have issued such a blanket ban since it takes no cognisance of the fact that HIV positive persons get married with full, free and informed consent of their partner who may or may not have HIV positive status.

``The restriction on the marriages of HIV-infected persons can have serious repercussions. The isolation of such persons will drive the epidemic underground, as doctors and hospitals will not maintain confidentiality with regard to their HIV status,'' he said.

He said the apex court was right in making it a moral and legal obligation for an HIV-positive person to disclose his/her status to theprospective spouse. But, the blanket ban on marriages of HIV-affected persons gives a fatal blow to the rights of these people, who are anyway at a disadvantage in society.