Marriage Registration now compulsory all across India

In a significant move, the Supreme Court of India has ordered compulsory registration of all marriages in India. Based on a petition filed by a divorced woman, Seema, a Bench of Justices Arijit Pasayat and P Sathasivam passed the order on October 25, 2006 seeking directions for making marriage registrations compulsory. Now, the Supreme Court of India has ordered the compulsory registration of all marriages in India, irrespective of the religion of the couple getting married. It has given states and union territories that have not yet enacted the rule, in accordance with its 2006 orders, a deadline of three months to frame rules to implement the compulsory registration.

Registration of marriage is compulsory in many countries but it was not mandatory in India till now. Till now, when marriage registration was not compulsory, 80% of people getting registration were young couples who were going in for a ‘love marriage’, meaning a marriage without parental consent. They felt that getting marriage registered made their wedlock stronger and made them mentally secure.

Compulsory registration of marriages is a much needed step specially to prevent the harassment of women (and men) particularly in divorce cases. This will be beneficial in matrimonial and maintenance cases and will also provide evidentiary value in the matters of custody of children, right of children born from the wedlock of the two persons whose marriage is registered and the age of the parties to the marriage.

How to register marriage in Dehradun, Uttarakhand

Well, as with all government processes, it is a long affair of collecting necessary certificates, filling forms and attaching requisite documents. Here is a complete How and What To Do List.

To register a marriage, one has to go to the court. The concerned authority for the registration is every Sub-Registrar (Hindu Marriages) within the limits of his jurisdiction and every Registrar (Hindu Marriages) of the district.

Process

An application for the registration of a marriage shall be made in duplicate to the Registrar within whose jurisdiction the marriage is solemnised, or within whose jurisdiction the husband permanently resides, and shall be in Form 'A' of the Schedule appended to these rules:

• Provided that, if the application is made to the Registrar within whose territorial jurisdiction the marriage is solemnised, and the husband does not permanently reside within such jurisdiction, it shall be made in triplicate and the third copy of the application shall be forwarded by the Registrar receiving the application to the Registrar within whose jurisdiction the husband permanently resides.

• Provided further that an application for the registration of a marriage shall ordinarily be presented to a Sub-Registrar having jurisdiction, but that the Registrar of the District may, in his discretion, also entertain any such application.

An application in Form-A shall be accompanied by a certificate by a Gazetted Officer, Pradhan of a Gaon Sabha, Sarpanch of a Nyaya Panchayat or Pramukh of a Kshettra Samiti or the President of any other local body, or in case any party to the marriage resides outside India, by the Indian Consul or Vice-Consul, as to the identity of the parties to the marriage and the correctness of other particulars appearing in the application, and may either be delivered personally to the Registrar concerned or sent to him by registered post.

Documents/papers needed

• Duly filled application (Form-A) in duplicate/triplicate

• Age Certificates of the bridegroom and the bride

• Individual latest photographs of the bridegroom and the bride

• Certificate/Proof of Marriage by Gram Pradhan/Chairman Nagar Palika/Any Gazetted Officer

Fee

• Rs. 2.00, if the application for the registration of a marriage is made within two months of the date of its solemnization.

• Rs. 4.00, if the application for the registration of a marriage is made after two months of the date of its solemnization.

Application Form

Form-A (application for the registration of Hindu Marriage). As on date, the form is not available online.