NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has directed all states and Union Territories (UTs) that have not yet notified rules under the Anand Marriage Act, 1909, to do so within four months, ensuring the time-bound implementation of the law that provides for registration of Sikh marriages performed through Anand Karaj.
In its order, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta noted that while Parliament amended the Act in 2012 to enable state governments to frame rules for registration, several states and UTs have not yet done so, resulting in uneven access to a uniform statutory facility.
The Justice Vikram Nath-led Bench was hearing a writ petition seeking directions for operationalising the statutory mechanism and ensuring that the rule-making duty is discharged within a reasonable time so that access to certification and the attendant civil consequences are secured.
Highlighting the importance of registration, the apex court said: "A marriage certificate enables proof of status for residence, maintenance, inheritance, insurance, succession and the enforcement of monogamy, and it particularly safeguards the interests of women and children who depend on documentary proof to claim legal protections."
The order cautioned that uneven access to registration across states and UTs "produces unequal outcomes for similarly situated citizens" and "withholds the very evidentiary and administrative benefits that Parliament has conferred".
The Supreme Court, while issuing a slew of directions to all states and UTs, ordered that rules under Section 6 be framed and notified within four months.
"Every respondent (states and UTs) that has not yet notified rules under Section 6 of the Act shall do so within four months from today. The rules shall be published in the Official Gazette and laid before the State Legislature in terms of Section 6(4) of the Act, " it directed.
In the interim, the apex court ordered authorities to accept applications for registration of Anand Karaj marriages "with immediate effect and until such rules are notified", ensuring 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".
Further, it directed the appointment of Secretary-level nodal officers in each state and UT to monitor compliance and address grievances regarding the receipt and certification of Anand Karaj marriages.