The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on Monday wrote to Rajasthan governor Kalraj Mishra expressing concern over the passage of the Registration of Marriages (Amendment) Bill in the state saying it legitimises child marriages.
“The Commission is apprehensive that the enactment of Registration of Marriages (Amendment) Bill, 2021 may have a serious impact on the physical, psychological, social and education of minors in the State,” the commission said in its letter to Mishra. It added the Bill provides for the registration of child marriages. “The Bill further states that the marriage between a bridegroom who has not completed 21 years and a bride who has not completed 18 years of age could be registered by parents or guardians within 30 days of the marriage.”
The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party opposed the Bill even as Rajasthan minister Shanti Kumar Dhariwal maintained registering a child marriage does not give it legal status. Dhariwal said anyone who organises such marriages even after they have been registered will face consequences. He cited a 2006 Supreme Court order and said it directed registration of all types of marriages.