SC directs states, UTs to notify rules for registration of Sikh marriages through Anand Karaj

New Delhi, Sep 18 (IANS) The Supreme Court has directed all states and Union Territories (UTs) that have not yet notified rules under the Anand Marriage Act, 1909, to do so within four months, ensuring the time-bound implementation of the law that provides for registration of Sikh marriages performed through Anand Karaj.

In its order, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta noted that while Parliament amended the Act in 2012 to enable state governments to frame rules for registration, several states and UTs have not yet done so, resulting in uneven access to a uniform statutory facility.

The Justice Vikram Nath-led Bench was hearing a writ petition seeking directions for operationalising the statutory mechanism and ensuring that the rule-making duty is discharged within a reasonable time so that access to certification and the attendant civil consequences are secured.

Highlighting the importance of registration, the apex court said: "A marriage certificate enables proof of status for residence, maintenance, inheritance, insurance, succession and the enforcement of monogamy, and it particularly safeguards the interests of women and children who depend on documentary proof to claim legal protections."

The order cautioned that uneven access to registration across states and UTs "produces unequal outcomes for similarly situated citizens" and "withholds the very evidentiary and administrative benefits that Parliament has conferred".

The Supreme Court, while issuing a slew of directions to all states and UTs, ordered that rules under Section 6 be framed and notified within four months.

"Every respondent (states and UTs) that has not yet notified rules under Section 6 of the Act shall do so within four months from today. The rules shall be published in the Official Gazette and laid before the State Legislature in terms of Section 6(4) of the Act," it directed.

In the interim, the apex court ordered authorities to accept applications for registration of Anand Karaj marriages "with immediate effect and until such rules are notified", ensuring that "no application for registration of an Anand Karaj marriage or for a certified extract shall be refused on the sole ground that rules under Section 6 of the Act have not yet been notified".

Further, it directed the appointment of Secretary-level nodal officers in each state and UT to monitor compliance and address grievances regarding the receipt and certification of Anand Karaj marriages.

The Union government has been designated as the coordinating authority. Within six months, it must file a consolidated status report before the Supreme Court and publish a copy of the status report on the Union Ministry of Law and Justice website.

The apex court issued specific directions for Goa and Sikkim, directing interim facilitation under existing civil registration frameworks and asked the Centre to consider extending the Anand Marriage Act to these two states within four months.

"No authority shall insist on an additional or duplicative registration under any other law once registration under the Act is granted, in view of Section 6(5)," the order clarified.

--IANS

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