The Hindu : Front Page : Frame rules for compulsory registration of marriage: court

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 26, 2007
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Frame rules for compulsory registration of marriage: court

Legal Correspondent

Order applies to all religions across the country

Compulsory registration to prevent child marriage
States given 3 months to comply with order

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered compulsory registration of marriages of all religions across the country. States and Union Territories which have not enacted rules to this effect as per its 2006 order should do so within three months.

A Bench consisting of Justices Arijit Pasayat and P. Sathasivam passed this order on a petition file by Seema, a divorcee, seeking directions for making registration of marriage compulsory. It reiterated that marriages should be compulsorily registered “in respect of persons who are citizens of India even if they belong to various religions.”

2006 order

On February 14, 2006, the court held that compulsory registration would be a step in the right direction to prevent child marriage still prevalent in many parts of the country. Under mandatory registration, one was obliged to give one’s age at the time of marriage.

The court agreed with the views of the National Commission for Women that compulsory registration would be of critical importance to prevention of child marriage and ensuring minimum age of marriage; prevention of marriage without the consent of the parties; checking bigamy/polygamy; and enabling married women to claim their right to live in their matrimonial houses, and maintenance.

In July this year, the amicus curiae brought to the notice of the court that though some States had framed the rules, it was done only in respect of Hindu marriages.

In Thursday’s order, the Bench said: “It appears Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Sikkim and Tripura have complied with the direction.”

In West Bengal, changes were made to the West Bengal Special Marriages Rules, 1969, the registration of Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration Rules and the Registration Rules of the Hindu Marriage Act for making marriages compulsorily registrable and providing for consequences of not doing so.

The court said some other States and Union Territories had not filed any affidavit and in respect of the others, the directions were complied with only in respect of Hindus.

“The directions given by the order dated February 14, 2006 have not been fully complied with. We, therefore, direct that the States and Union Territories which have not acted in line with the directions given on February 14, 2006 shall forthwith do it and in no case later than three months from today. Place this matter after four months. The affidavits indicating compliance shall be filed before next of hearing.”

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