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Assam to repeal Muslim Marriages and Divorce Registration Act, 1935
To repeal the earlier legislation, a new one — the Assam Repealing Bill, 2024 — will be tabled in the monsoon session of assembly for consideration.
The Assam cabinet on Thursday announced plans to repeal an earlier legislation regulating Muslim marriages and divorces to bring in a new one in the upcoming monsoon session of the assembly, a move aimed to act as a safeguard against child marriages.
“We have taken a significant step to ensure justice for our daughters and sisters by putting additional safeguards against child marriage. In the meeting of the Assam cabinet today, we have decided to repeal the Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorce Registration Act, 1935,” chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma posted on X.
To be sure, the cabinet had approved to repeal the 89-year-old Act, which regulated the registration of marriages and divorces of Muslims residing in the state, in February this year. The Act provided for voluntary registration of Muslim marriages and divorces, and allowed the government to provide licence to a Muslim person authorising him to register Muslim marriages and divorces on applications for such registration.
Sarma said the move is aimed at bringing parity in registration of marriages and divorces. To repeal the earlier legislation, a new one — the Assam Repealing Bill, 2024 — will be tabled in the monsoon session of assembly for consideration, the CM said.
“The state cabinet has also directed that a suitable legislation be brought in for the registration of Muslim marriages in Assam, to be considered by the next session of assembly,” the CM said on X.
Assam had 94 authorised persons who could register Muslim marriages and divorces. But with the cabinet decision taken in February, their authority ceased to exist.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in the state feels it was necessary to repeal the old Act as it didn’t match with today’s societal norms; the same was being used to register marriages of boys and girls under the permissible age. The government believes that repealing the Act will be a big step in curbing such child marriages.
