India’s top court says all marriages must be registered irrespective
of faith
Indian authorities must begin registering all marriages in the next
three months, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday. The decision is
intended to combat underage marriages, but is being decried by Muslim
religious leaders who say it interferes with their traditions.
India, a predominantly Hindu country with a sizable Muslim minority,
allows for matters like marriage, divorce and inheritance to be
determined based on religious laws, and Muslim leaders called the
court’s ruling “un-Islamic.”
“Any directive, even if it may come from the highest court of the
land, asking Muslims to register their marriages in court is
un-Islamic,” said Maulana Khalid Rashid, a member of the All India
Muslim Personal Law Board, the top body ruling on Muslim religious
matters.
Muslim religious leaders have for decades closely guarded the powers
accorded to them under the so-called personal laws and resisted any
attempts to dilute their authority.
“We will not allow any one to interfere in our religious matters,”
the Maulana said.
The Supreme Court ruled last year that all marriages had to be
registered following a divorce case in which a man denied ever being
married to a woman who said she was his wife. The man cited lack of any
legal paperwork as proof he had never been married.
At the time, the court said registering marriages would also “be a
step in the right direction for the prevention of child marriage still
prevalent in many parts of the country.”
But few of India’s 28 states have complied with the law - several
only make registration mandatory of Hindu marriages - and Thursday’s
ruling by Justice Arijit Pasayat was intended to make sure authorities
start registering marriages.
The court did not specify any penalties for states that do not comply
with the ruling.
The legal age for marriage in India is 18 years for women and 21 for
men. But underage marriages - some that involve mere children - remain a
widespread problem.
New Delhi, Friday, AP
|
