Rajasthan Assembly Passes Bill To Allow Registration Of Child Marriages

The Rajasthan State Assembly on Friday passed a bill to amend a 2009 Act [Rajasthan Compulsory Registration of Marriages Act] which provides for mandatory registration of marriages, including child marriages.

The bill which has been passed yesterday proposes to amend, inter alia, Section 8 of the 2009 Act, which speaks of the duty of parties to submit a Memorandum for registration of marriage to the marriage of the Registrar within whose jurisdiction the marriage is solemnized.

Now, the amendment bill seeks to make it the duty of the following to submit the memorandum to the registrar:-

• Parties to the marriage [will be applicable in case the bridegroom has completed the age of 21 and/or bride has completed the age of 18], or
  
• In case the bridegroom has not completed the age of twenty-one years and/or bride has not completed the age of eighteen years, the parents or, as the case may be, guardian of the parties.

[NOTE: Before proceeding further, it may be noted that the 2009 Act states almost the same thing, meaning thereby, the Amendment Bill, in a way just reiterates the provision which is presently in force, with the only difference being that in the 2009 Act, the age mentioned was 21 years for both boys and girls, whereas, the amendment bill seeks to differentiate between the age of bride and bridegroom.

In other words, till now, if parties (bride or groom) haven't completed the age of 21, then their parents or their guardians have to submit the memorandum. Now, if this amendment bill becomes an act, then the law would be that if the bride hasn't completed 18 years of age and/or the groom hasn't completed 21 years of age, then their parents or their guardians have the duty to submit the memorandum]

In essence, both, the Act of 2009 and the proposed amendment to the act, make the registration of child marriage mandatory, with the only difference being, under the proposed amendment, if a girl is 18 or above the age of 18, it would be her duty to submit the memorandum of her marriage, while as of now, it is the duty of her parents to do so.

Let us look at both the provisions together and understand their difference

Further, the Amendment Bill seeks to add the following new subsection (1-A) before sub-section (2) under Section 8 

"(1-A) If, at any time, death of either of the parties to the marriage or of both occurs, the surviving party, parents, adult child or, as the case may be, guardian of the parties may submit the memorandum, in such manner, as may be prescribed, to the Registrar within whose jurisdiction the marriage is solemnized, or the surviving party, parents, adult child or, as the case may be, guardian of the parties is residing for at least thirty days before the date of submission of the memorandum."

This abovementioned provision would enable a widow or a widower, or their children, parents, or their kin (in case both have died), to register their marriage within 30 days of their death.

Earlier, there were marriage registration officers only at the district level, but now, proposing to amend Sections 2, 5, and 15 of the Principal Act, marriage registration could be made up to the block level.

In other words, the amendment bill proposes to amend Section 5 of the Rajasthan Compulsory Registration of Marriages Act, 2009, which provides for the appointment of a District Marriage Registration Officer.

Now, the Government has been given the power to appoint the Additional Marriage Registration Officer and Block Marriage Registration Officer for monitoring and reviewing the work of registration of marriages in the district and block level.

Accordingly, section 5 of the Act has been proposed to be amended suitably. Consequently, clause (f) of sections 2 and 15 have also been proposed to be amended.

Child Marriage is prohibited as per The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.

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