The government will amend the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, to include registration of marriages under the purview of this law. The amendment bill to be introduced in Parliament during this session. This will provide legal protection to couples, especially in cases of inter-religious matrimony.
The Union Cabinet on Thursday also approved amendment to the Anand Marriage Act, 1909, to provide for registration of marriages of Sikhs that has been a long-standing demand of the community.
The proposed Bills will be beneficial to women, protecting them from unnecessary harassment in matrimonial and maintenance cases. It will also provide evidentiary value in matters of custody of children, right of children born from wedlock of two persons whose marriage is registered and the age of the parties to the marriage, Union Human Resource Development Minister, Kapil Sibal, told reporters here.
While marriages of Sikhs along with those of Buddhists and Jains are currently registered under the Hindu Marriage Act, Muslims, Parsis, Christians and Jews have separate Acts for registration.
Necessary provisions have also been made to avoid duplication of registration both under the proposed central legislation and State laws. The registration of marriages under the proposed amendment would, however, not affect any right recognised or acquired by any party to marriage under any law, custom or usage.
Although Supreme Court has pious intentions however this will again be mis used like laws on Dowry and Domestic violence. These laws have been made to protect wife only, other women in the family like mother, sister and sister in laws of Husband have only one right against these laws that is they can defend themselves in criminal court. Therefore women’s protection or women empowerment is only a misnomer.
Immediately after independence law makers made laws to improve conditions of women but it appears that the law makers find each step too little and too late. There was a time in 90ties when all the women prisoners in the Punjab jails were brought in because of dowry related charges. Although Anti dowry laws were enacted in 60ties marriages are becoming costlier since then. Dowry is increasing since then and more and more husbands and his relatives are booked in jails because of dowry related charges. Perhaps no crime has grown with the time as much as dory related crimes.
Now let us look at some other achievements India has made. India successfully annexed Goa in 1961, Bifurcated Pakistan in 1971, Capture Siachen in 1984. Won world cup cricket in 2011 and conquered Polio in 2012, to name a few. All these moves were planned and executed to win.
Cleary Stakeholders in Anti Dowry Laws or Domestic Violence laws are not serious in eradication of this social evil.
Registration of Marriage is again misnomer if done for the purpose of women empowerment. It is for protection of wife‘s rights only. Obviously this is going to be used against husband, his sister, sister in-laws mother and other male and female relatives. This registration may be used are few positive purposes like gulf travelers etc... But by and large it will again be used against husband and his relatives.
It is believed that Indians have highest family values. Majority of People marry for many lives to come. Marriage is a very pious relation in India.
There is only one Tajmahal that is in India. Tajmahal is epitome of Husbands love to his wife. May rulers from Aurangzeb to commoners have copied Tajmahal as a symbol of love to his wife. We Indians love our wives as much as any other national. But we Indians are having the toughest laws in favor of wife to be used against husbands and his relatives.
When man takes a woman as his wife they have happy dreams in their eyes. God forbid if marriage goes sour, Indian Husband specially Hindu and chistristians have very few grounds to seek divorce. Even on those grounds they can not convince courts to grant divorce. Rarely a Hindu or Christian Husband gets divorce. Imagine a situation when someone encounters a tough, quarrelsome neighbor, co passenger or relative that individual tries to get out of the situation. What will happen to husband if he gets a tough quarrelsome or a cheating wife? Even if the husbands runs away or commit suicide, husbands family member specially old parents will have to bear the burden of such wife till they die.
Now situation of women in general has improved from what it was some 10-15 years ago. We all know women are occupying esteem position in family business small shop to corporate, defense and as commandoes. Now may women thrash men in public. Perhaps time has come to rethink on those laws acts and statutes which support individual and which are prone to misuse.
A Married Hindu woman can take her father’s name or husband’s first middle or last name. A married woman has right not to mention her child’s father name or her husband name. After the marriage registartion is made mandatory, the husband would be forced to mention wife’s name even if they are living separately or under divorce proceedings.
Courts have always recognized marriage between the parties whether there is marriage registration existing or not existing. Courts have always tried to award relief to wife, whether marriage has occurred in India or abroad. Therefore one more certification at par with birth and death certificate is going to increase insult and injury to laths of husbands and their relatives whose divorce petion is pending in courts and where the parties have reached to point of no return.
If all husbands were so cruel, insensitive and careless for their families, perhaps institution of marriage and family would not have survived all these 10000 years of history of mankind. The Human society would have been slightly better than Chimpanzees. No where e in the history such harsh rules were made against husbands and his relatives as they are now in India,
The ideal situation is when there is no dispute. But unfortunaly Disputes between man and wife are increasing. And therefore the parliament should go slow on this marriage registration, and this marriage registration must not be made mandatory. Let this marriage registration be utilized for good purposes, and not for snatching peace and property from husbands. After watching its effect on the society for few years say 5 years further steps on this should be taken.
The infrastructure in registration in the states should improve both in man power,computerising and spaces in offices of registration.If we look at the registration office in Saidapet, Chennai,we would need all these facilities before going on increasing the items for registration.There is no space to get down from our transports let alone car parking spaces.Senior citizens men and women have to walk quite a distance in the hot sun.there are no spaces for people to move inside the building which is so old to hand over to heritage maintenance authorities.No places to sit and time taken is also high due to many formalities.
Good.Can the law make inter-caste marriages once registered, parents will not harass the new marrieds by so called taboos raised by parents who also murder their wards under the so called pretexts like in Haryana?
While this is a good administrative decision, I am sure implementation of this in a timely manner for individuals depends on how much "bakshish" you give to the Registrar as it happens even for getting a Power of Attorney registered in a sub-Registrar's office in India, not to talk of registration of a property sold/bought.
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