The modification to the Rajasthan Compulsory Registration of Marriages Act has sparked controversy, although it obviously does not validate or legitimise child marriage. The problem raised by the opposition and the India’s National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights, on the other hand, may prompt a rethinking of the legal structure governing child weddings, which continue to occur despite a formal prohibition.
All weddings in Rajasthan are required to be registered under a law passed in 2009. It is generally identical to state legislation and is based on the Indian Supreme Court’s ruling in Seema versus Ashwani Kumar (2007), which ordered that all marriages in India be registered. The original legislation did not prohibit the registration of child weddings, and the modification only changes the age at which the responsibility for registration shifts from the parents or guardians to the parties to the marriage.
Previously, it was the responsibility of the parties to the marriage to submit a memorandum on their marriage to the registrar if they were both over 21 years old, and the parents or guardians if they were younger. The amendment raises the age restriction for males to 21 and for women to 18 years old. It allows a woman to participate in marriage registration beyond the age of 18, which is difficult to interpret as allowing child marriage.
Child marriages are not invalid under the law, but they are voidable at the request of one of the parties, who may petition the court to dissolve the marriage within two years after reaching the age of majority. Registration of such a marriage may assist in establishing the legal rights of the minor party and any children born, as well as prevent any subsequent attempt to annul the marriage.
It may also aid in the prosecution of individuals who solemnise child weddings and the implementation of rules pertaining to the girl’s support and residency if the marriage is subsequently declared illegal. After recording the marriage, nothing prohibits the marriage registrar from notifying the child marriage prohibition officer. It’s worth noting that there was never a law prohibiting the registration of child marriages.
Even though registration could not prove a valid marriage in and of itself, the Supreme Court of India stated that it would have “great evidentiary value in matters of custody of children, right of children born from the wedlock of the two persons whose marriage is registered, and the age of the parties to the marriage.” As a result of this debate, the SehMat Foundation urges the Indian Parliament should examine the Law Commission’s suggestion to alter the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, to render child marriages under the age of 16 null and voidable, as well as those solemnised between the ages of 16 and 18.
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Editorial- SehMat 