Compulsory registration of marriages, Karnataka Marriages Act 1976 may see amendments

Compulsory registration of marriages, Karnataka Marriages Act 1976 may see amendments

Mangalore Today News Network

Bangalore, Aug 4, 2014: Taking note of the poor record of marriage registrations in the State, the Department of Law and Parliamentary Affairs has now referred the Act to the State Law Commission for its opinion.  To ensure compulsory registration of marriages, the State government has proposed to amend the Karnataka Marriages (Registration and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1976.

Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T.B. Jayachandra told press persons recently that although the Act in its current form mandated registration of marriages, the rule was not effective. “Most provisions under the existing Act have become outdated. Not many come forward to register their marriages.”

The government wanted to ensure that every marriage in the State is registered. Even married couples, who have not registered their marriages so far, should register irrespective of the number of years of their marriage, he said.

The Act, in its current form, says that marriages should be registered, but does not spell out either a cut-off date to do so or punishment for non-registration.  In 2011, a four-member committee on prevention of child marriage, headed by the former judge of the Supreme Court Shivaraj V. Patil, had recommended that non-registration of marriages be made a punishable offence in the State.  Suggesting amendments to the Karnataka Marriages (Registration and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1976, the committee had said that registration should be compulsorily done within a month from the date of marriage.

Stating that the Law Commission had a record of all recommendations made in the past, the Minister said, “The commission will study the existing Act and recommendations made in the past and come out with suggestions for amendments in the next two months.”