Love is not enough, get a govt stamp: Apex Court
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Centre and the state governments to make registration of all marriages compulsory within three months.
A Bench comprising Justice Arijit Passayat and Justice S H Kapadia ordered the Central and State governments to amend the rules and procedures in this regard within three months.
The Court granted one month for public objections, if any, saying the matter should be advertised and disposed of within that period.
The new rules should also have provisions vis-a-vis a false declaration during registration of marriage.
The ruling comes after the National Commission for Women (NCW) approached the Supreme Court and said that making marriage registration compulsory would end the pernicious practice of weddings of under-aged.
A bench consisting of judges Arijit Pasayat and SH Kapadia, while reserving orders on a petition seeking a direction to the central and state governments for making marriage registration compulsory, had asked the commission for its views on the issue.
The bench was of the view that one way of curbing the practice was to make it mandatory for all marriages to be registered, as also to state the age of those who were getting married.
In its affidavit, the commission said it fully supported the proposal as this was of critical importance to various women- related issues such as prevention of child marriages, ensuring a minimum age for marriage, prevention of marriages without consent of both parties and checking bigamy and polygamy.
It will also enable married women to claim the right to live in the matrimonial houses.
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"Ours is a battle not for wealth or for power.
It is a battle for freedom. It is a battle for the reclamation of human personality."
- Dr BR Ambedkar
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