New Delhi: The Assam government’s proposed law that intends to make registration of Muslim marriages and divorces compulsory requires a Muslim couple to serve a marriage notice to the Marriage and Divorce Registrar either before or after the wedding to provide the scope for hearing out objections, if any.
The Assam Compulsory Registration of Muslim Marriages and Divorces Bill, 2024, prohibits the registrar to solemnise a marriage until he/she has inquired into the objections.
Even for registration of marriage, the bill contemplates a similar process. Upon the receipt of an application for marriage registration, the Marriage and Divorce Registrar will have to give a public notice for objections.
The application for marriage registration, the Bill envisages, should be submitted within 30 days of the solemnization of the wedding. The marriage registration certificate can only be issued once the registrar is satisfied that the objections are not valid.
On Thursday, the Assam assembly passed the Assam Repealing Bill, 2024 to repeal the 1935 Act that dealt with registration of Muslim marriages and divorces. It also passed The Assam Compulsory Registration of Muslim Marriages and Divorces Bill, 2024 to replace the old Act.
Apart from prescribing conditions on the basis of which marriage notice and registration will be allowed, it introduces a legal age for marriage. No registration of marriage is allowed if the bride is less than 18 years and the groom less than 21.
The now repealed Assam (Muslim) Marriages and Divorces Registration Act, 1935 originally made registration of marriage voluntary. However, in 2010 with the insertion of section 2A, it was made compulsory. But the outdated law did not prescribe any legal age for the couple. Rather, it permitted guardians of a minor couple to apply on their behalf for registration of their marriage.
The earlier law authorised the state to grant a licence to a Muslim, “authorising him to register marriages and divorces” that took place within certain specified limits. As per section 3 of the repealed Act, only two persons–one Shia and the other Sunni–could have been licensed to exercise the said function. The seal and books to give and maintain certificates were provided to the Muslim registrars by the state.
The 1935 Act also contained a ‘saving’ clause. According to section 24 of the Act, the marriage of a Muslim couple or divorce were not rendered invalid merely because they were not registered. Furthermore, their registration did not confer the status of a valid marriage or divorce.
The proposed bill lays down an elaborate procedure for solemnisation, as well as registration of marriage, including inviting objections. However, unlike the repealed law, it neither contains a ‘saving; clause nor has any specific section that declares the consequences of non-registration of a Muslim marriage.
A Supreme Court lawyer, who was one of the arguing counsel in the triple talaq case, told ThePrint that absence of a saving clause or ambiguity in the bill on the status of a non-registered Muslim marriage shows that the law is not mandatory. However, in the backdrop of this new law, the state can, through other executive orders, ensure registration becomes compulsory.
“The state can issue directions to its agencies, asking them to only accept marriage registration certificates issued by the Marriage and Divorce registrar for issuance of a ration card or providing benefits under official welfare schemes,” the lawyer explained.
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Bill provisions
According to Section 4 of The Assam Compulsory Registration of Muslim Marriages and Divorces Bill, a Muslim couple, either intending to marry or married, shall give notice to the Marriage and Divorce Register of the district in which at least one of the parties to the marriage has resided for a period of not less than 30 days. This is called a marriage notice.
Section 5 of the bill says the Marriage and Divorce Registrar shall publish notice in a “conspicuous place” in office about the notice given by the couple. If one of the two partners is not residing within the jurisdiction of the registrar, the bill warrants the officer to affix the said notice in the district office of the area where that partner lives.
“Any person” can raise an objection within 30 days after such a notice is published, reads Section 6. The objection can be on the ground that the proposed marriage or marriage contravenes Section 3 of the Bill that underlines the conditions for registration of a marriage.
As for Section 3, a marriage can be registered if only a proper ceremony has been performed for wedlock and the two have been living as husband and wife; the parties have been residing in the district of the marriage and divorce registrar for atleast 30 days preceding the date of marriage.
Other conditions include consent of both parties for the wedding; the parties are free from any kind of legal disability such as not being within the prohibited degree of relationship as per the Shariat or Muslim law and documents are documents identifying the parties to the marriage, among others.
Moreover, the parties will have to submit a declaration confirming the fulfillment of the above-mentioned conditions.
In case an objection is raised to a marriage notice, the registrar will have to hold an inquiry and on being satisfied can either go ahead with the registration or prohibit it. The process has to be completed within 30 days, the bill proposes.
If the registrar refuses to solemnise the marriage, the aggrieved couple can file an appeal before the District Registrar and then approach the Registrar General of Marriage, it says.
The Registrar General of Marriage’s decision will be final, it adds.
The procedure for marriage registration entails a similar process. “The registrar shall endeavour to complete the process of registration of marriage and issue marriage certificates within 30 days after the expiry of the notice period if objections have not been received, and if objections have been received it shall be completed within an outer limit of 60 days from the date of receipt of application with all the particulars and fulfilling all the requirements prescribed under the Act,” reads Section 8(3) of the Bill.
If the marriage is registered or solemnised in violation of Section 3 conditions, then the person responsible for the act can be convicted to one year of jail and fined up to Rs 50,000.
The registrar will also maintain a separate book to register divorces. The Bill also proposes to allow marriage and divorce registrars open for inspection. These registers will be treated as admissible evidence and, on an application, can be given to any person.
Section 18 of the Bill talks about penalties for making false certificates. Under this provision, the Marriage and Divorce Registrar is the lone person authorised to file a complaint. Those accused of forgery will be tried under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, it adds.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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A truly progressive move by the Assam government to stop exploitation of women and girls. If anyone is asking ‘Why Muslims are being targeted specifically?’, my answer would be ‘In the absence of an Indian Civial Code, religion specific laws become the norm to prevent exploitation of women and girls’. The Sati laws liberated women from having to die just because their husband died.