New Delhi, Feb. 1: In a bid to prevent any kind of coercion by families, caste groups or communities against couples planning to tie the knot, the law and justice ministry has written to the Union home ministry seeking an amendment of the Registration of Marriages Act by doing away with the mandatory 30-day notice period before a marriage can be registered.
Law and justice minister M. Veerappa Moily, speaking exclusively to this newspaper, said the "required 30-day notice period for registration of marriages was working against freedom of individuals and democratic norms." He added: "I have written to home minister P. Chidambaram... that the mandatory 30-day period for notice to register marriages be either repealed, or the period drastically reduced."
It is believed the move was prompted by concerns in several quarters that the mandatory 30-day period for notice to register marriages was acting as an impediment rather than a facilitator for couples. "It was found that when notices were issued, the individuals planning get married often faced harassment," Mr Moily said.
The law minister has also proposed that the mandatory requirement of a permanent address be also done away with under this law. "We found that couples had to inadvertently supply the addresses of their parents, which is defeating the purpose of making this freedom available. This clause also needs to be looked into and changed," Mr Moily said.
The proposed amendment to the Registration of Marriages Act come as part of attempts by the law ministry and the MHA to address the issue of so-called "honour killings" and curb other atrocities in the name of preserving the honour of a family, caste, religion or region.
This newspaper had on January 19 first reported the government’s plan to amend the Indian Penal Code by providing a definition of "honour killings" in an effort to check the growing instances of such murders across the country.
It is learnt that the law might be amended to enable the prosecution of caste or community panchayats, or any person who aids or abets such killings. Sources said all those involved in this manner should be treated as accomplices to a murder. Sources said these amendments were likely to be introduced in Parliament during the Budget Session due to begin later this month.
Nitin Mahajan