Registering change

The enormous benefits accruing from what may seem like a simple act of making a marriage a matter of State record is simply astounding.

The Union government's decision to make marriage registration compulsory only for those wedded under the provisions of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, seems to be a dilution of a measure that could go a long way in promoting gender justice and preventing child marriage. Registration of marriage is an administrative measure that can by no means be seen as interference in the personal laws of minority communities - considered by some to be the political equivalent of harakiri.

HT Image

The enormous benefits accruing from what may seem like a simple act of making a marriage a matter of State record is simply astounding. India in 2006 remains a country where laws and social norms are tilted heavily against women. It has been seen that in courts of law or in matters relating to marital property, women are unable to get their due for the want of documentary evidence of their marriage. Compulsory marriage registration - implemented at present only in the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh - has shown itself to be a handy tool in checking bigamy and polygamy, preventing marriages without the consent of both the parties, deterring men from abandoning their wives, guardians/parents from selling their girl child and in giving women the right to claim inheritance and other rights after the death of their husbands. Registration is also a surefire way of enforcing the minimum age of marriage, but unfortunately, the provision to register marriages is absent in the proposed law to prevent child marriage in all communities, which is expected to also come before the Union Cabinet soon.

The Union Law Ministry is absolutely correct in saying that marriage registration will be easier to implement under the Hindu Marriage Act since this allows for only one marriage, unlike the personal laws of some other communities. But whoever said that the reform of society was an easy task? The government must be able to find a correct balance between the claims of personal laws and those of the individual women and children who are affected by its implementation.