The Assam government on Thursday introduced a Bill to repeal the existing legislation regarding registration of Muslim marriages and divorce in the state on the basis that it had the scope to allow child marriages in the community.
The bill tabled by revenue and disaster management minister Jogen Mohan with an aim to abolish the Assam Moslem Marriages and Divorce Registration Act, 1935, on the first day of the autumn session of the assembly.
In a statement outlining the objectives and reasons for the recent legislative move, the minister highlighted that the previous law, enacted by the British government before India’s independence, did not mandate the registration of Muslim marriages and divorces.
“The registration of marriages and divorces is not mandatory, and the machinery of registration is informal, leaving a lot of scope for non-compliance of extant norms,” Mohan said
“There is a scope of misuse by both authorized licensee (Muslim marriage registrars) as well as by citizens for underage/minor marriages and forcefully arranged marriages without the consent of the parties,” Mohan added.
The move comes after the Assam cabinet on Wednesday approved new legislation regulating registration of Muslim marriages and divorces.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that the Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorce Registration Act of 1935 will be repealed. It will be replaced by the Assam Compulsory Registration of Muslim Marriage and Divorce Bill, 2024.
The previous legislation allowed for the voluntary registration of Muslim marriages and divorces and permitted the government to license individuals to register these events upon request. In February, the cabinet decided to repeal this law.
“Earlier Kazis (experts on Muslim scriptures) used to register Muslim marriages and divorces. With the introduction of the new legislation, these will have to be registered by government officials. The earlier Bill had the provision of registering marriages of minors as well; that will stop when the new legislation is enacted. This is an attempt to end child marriages in the state,” Sarma said.
All India United Democratic Front MLA Md Aminul Islam said that the new law is another tactic by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government to “divert public attention from other important issues”.
“The CM is trying to show that his government is trying to bring in some form of uniform civil code. Instead of bringing in a new law, the government could have made changes to the earlier law that allowed registration of child marriages. We have no issues if registration of marriages or divorces is made compulsory. The exact details of the new Bill will be known only after it is tabled in the assembly. Our party will have to first see its contents before deciding whether to oppose it or not,” he added.
