Delhi HC Orders Fast Registration Of Refugee Couple’s Marriage [Read Judgment]
Bringing an end to the predicament of a Mynamar refugee couple whose customary marriage could not be recognized in India, the Delhi High Court has directed the Registrar of Marriage (Christian Marriage Act) to ensure that their marriage is registered expeditiously after the duo expressed their desire to re-marry as per the Indian laws.The couple – T Olive and his partner Nili Fnu had come...
Bringing an end to the predicament of a Mynamar refugee couple whose customary marriage could not be recognized in India, the Delhi High Court has directed the Registrar of Marriage (Christian Marriage Act) to ensure that their marriage is registered expeditiously after the duo expressed their desire to re-marry as per the Indian laws.
The couple – T Olive and his partner Nili Fnu had come to the Delhi High Court after the Registrar refused to register their marriage under the Indian Christian marriage Act since they had tied the knot in 2013 as per the Chin Burmese Christian customs.
After doing the rounds of the ADM office at Parliament Street, they filed a petition before the high court through advocate Dhiraj Philip who argued on the line that under the Indian Christian Marriage Act solemnisation and registration of marriage is guaranteed to all Christians and not merely to Indian citizens.
After some hearings, to put an end to the controversy, the couple expressed their desire before the court to be married once again as per the provisions of the Indian Christian Marriage Act but apprehended further roadblocks may be placed by the Registrar office.
To put to rest all apprehensions, Justice Vibhu Bakhru directed the ADM “to accept such notice and take further steps as required by the Act without raising any issue or objection regarding the status of the petitioners or on account of their prior marriage. The marriage shall be solemnized on the date fixed by the respondent no.2( ADM). Respondent no.2 is further directed to ensure that the certificate of the marriage is issued as expeditiously as permissible in law”.
In the instant case, T. Olive and Nili Fnu fled persecution by the military junta in Myanmar and were granted refugee status in India.
Fnu’s family came to India in 2011 and stayed here till 2013. They were then granted third country resettlement to the United States. Before moving to the US, she married Olive as per their customs with the blessings of their elders.
A son was born to them in the USA in 2014. On her return to India on a tourist visa in August 2016, the couple approached the Registrar to get their marriage registered but their request was turned down.
Without registration, Olive said, he cannot be with his family or his son in the USA.
Read the Judgment Here