SC asks states, UTs to notify rules for registration of 'Anand Karaj' marriage

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has directed several states and union territories to notify within four months the rules for registering "Anand Karaj" or the Sikh wedding ceremony.

The apex court said in a secular framework, which respects religious identity and ensures civic equality, the law must provide a neutral and workable route by which marriages through "Anand Karaj" are recorded and certified on the same footing as other marriages.

"The fidelity of a constitutional promise is measured not only by the rights it proclaims, but by the institutions that make those rights usable. In a secular republic, the state must not turn a citizen's faith into either a privilege or a handicap," a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said.

In its September 4 order, the bench said when the law recognises "Anand Karaj" as a valid form of marriage yet leaves no machinery to register it, the "promise was only half kept".

"What remains is to ensure that the route from rites to record is open, uniform and fair," it said.

The top court passed the order on a plea seeking directions to various states and UTs to frame and notify rules under Section 6 of the Anand Marriage Act, 1909 (as amended in 2012) to facilitate registration of marriages solemnised by the Sikh rite commonly known as "Anand Karaj".

The bench noted the 1909 Act was enacted to recognise the validity of marriages performed by the Sikh ceremony of "Anand Karaj".

It said by the 2012 amendment, Parliament inserted Section 6 casting a duty upon the states to make rules to facilitate registration of such marriages, to maintain a marriage register and to provide certified extracts, while clarifying that omission to register would not affect the validity of the marriage.

The bench said according to the petitioner, while a number of states and UTs had notified rules pursuant to Section 6, which deals with registration of marriages, several others had not yet done so.

Referring to Section 6, the bench said it imposed a positive duty on every state to create a workable registration machinery for "Anand Karaj" marriages.

"That duty is not contingent on the size of the beneficiary group in any jurisdiction, nor can it be deferred on the footing that other marriage laws exist in parallel," it said.

The bench said availability of registration bears directly on equal treatment and on orderly civil administration.

Uneven access to a statutory facility across states and UTs, the bench said, produced unequal outcomes for similarly situated citizens while underlining the harmonisation with the existing registration regimes as "practicable and necessary".

"Where a general civil marriage registration framework is in place, it must receive applications for registration of marriages solemnised by Anand Karaj on the same footing as other marriages and, if the parties so request, it should record that the ceremony was by the Anand rite," the bench said.

Every respondent state and UT which hadn't yet notified rules under Section 6, was therefore directed to do so within four months.

"With immediate effect and until such rules are notified, each respondent shall ensure that marriages solemnised by Anand Karaj are received for registration under the prevailing marriage-registration framework without discrimination," it said.

The bench said states and UTs, which have already notified the rules under Section 6, should continue to operate them.

The bench directed the Centre to act as the coordinating authority and asked it to circulate within two months, the model rules compiled from jurisdictions that had already notified Section 6 rules to any state or UT that seeks guidance.

It directed the Centre to compile and present a consolidated status report before it within six months indicating compliance by the states and UTs.

"Moreover, we make it clear 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," it said.

In specific directions to Goa, the bench, as an interim measure, asked the state to ensure all civil registration offices receive and process, without discrimination, applications for registration of marriages solemnised by 'Anand Karaj' under the existing framework.

The Centre was further directed to issue within four months an appropriate notification under Section 6 of the Goa, Daman and Diu (Administration) Act, 1962, extending the 1909 Act to Goa.

Upon such extension, Goa was ordered to notify rules under Section 6 within four months.

"As an interim measure, the state (Sikkim) shall ensure that all registering authorities receive and process, without discrimination, applications for registration of marriages solemnised by Anand Karaj under the existing Rules to provide for registration and solemnization of a Form of Marriage in Sikkim (1963)," it said.

While disposing of the plea, the bench directed the Centre to consider and place within four months before the competent authority a proposal for extension of the 1909 Act to Sikkim under Article 371F(n) of the Constitution, with such restrictions or modifications as may be warranted.