'Pathetic': Delhi High Court upset over defiance of SC order on mandatory marriage registrations

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday ordered the Centre and Delhi government to comply with the Supreme Court's directions over compulsory registration of marriages in three months.

A bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said it was "pathetic and appalling" that the 2006 apex court order, asking all marriages to be compulsorily registered irrespective of faith, was not yet implemented by the authorities.

"This is pathetic actually. It is appalling as to how you are not implementing the order of the Supreme Court," it added.

The high court also issued notice to both governments on a petition seeking direction to the Ministry of Home Affairs to prepare rules for a centralised database of marriage registration.

The Supreme Court, in February 2006, ruled that all marriages, irrespective of their religion, be compulsorily registered and directed the Centre and all states to frame and notify rules for this within three months.

Pursuant to the top court's directions, the Delhi government issued an order on April 21, 2014 containing certain provisions for compulsory registration of marriage. The order is known as "Delhi (Compulsory Registration of Marriage) order, 2014.

However, various deficiencies and lacunae were pointed out in the rules by the petitioner, who said the state and the Central governments were informed about it.

Petitioner Aakash Goel said in the absence of an appropriate legislation as desired by the Supreme Court in the 2006 judgment, the mechanism available for registration of marriages was not only inadequate and caused hardship to people seeking registration, but it also did not fulfil the object of compulsory registration of marriages.

"We call upon the ministry concerned of the Government of India and the Delhi Government to look into the matter and take appropriate steps which will be warranted in law and also for ensuring the directions issued by the Supreme Court are complied with," the bench said.

Granting three months' time, the bench asked for the decisions of the Centre and the state government in terms of its order to be filed before the next hearing on July 9.

When the Delhi government counsel said it had framed rules in line with the apex court's directions, the bench said the rules were only executive in nature.

"There has to be an enactment as per the directions of the Supreme Court… You have to respond to the needs of people and frame rules for smooth registration of marriage. That's the need of the hour. These are not the things which should come to the court," it added.

The plea has sought a direction to the Ministry of Home Affairs to prepare rules for a centralised database of marriage as "dis-aggregate state-wide databases" do not help achieve the objective of the Supreme Court judgment as a person can easily marry and register in Delhi, while being already married and registered in another state.

It also sought directions to the Centre to maintain the centralised database and make it available in advance to citizens so that correct whereabouts of families were known while giving a go-ahead for a wedding.

The petition also sought a direction for modifying certain clauses of the Delhi Compulsory Registration of Marriages Order, 2014 to allow online registration of marriages with the virtual presence of a married couple and witness before the authorities concerned.