Raj Assembly Passes Compulsory Marriage Registration Bill; Child Weddings To Be Furnished In 30 Days

The assembly passed the bill which amends the Rajasthan Compulsory Registration of Marriages Act, 2009,  as per which information on child marriage must be furnished by their parents within 30 days.

Rajasthan Assembly

New Delhi: The Rajasthan assembly on Friday passed the Compulsory Registration of Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2021 despite opposition legislators walked out of the House. 

The assembly passed the bill which amends the Rajasthan Compulsory Registration of Marriages Act, 2009,  as per which information on child marriage must be furnished by their parents or guardians within 30 days of the wedding. 

Demanding the withdrawal of the bill, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) slammed the Rajasthan government and questioned the need for the registration of child marriages. According to news agency ANI, BJP MLA Ashok Lahoti said "It will be a black day for the assembly if this bill is passed. Does the assembly permit us to unanimously allow child marriages? By a show of hands, we will be permitting child marriages. The bill will write a black chapter in the history of the assembly." 

The Congress-led Rajasthan government has however said that the bill has been brought on the basis of a Supreme Court order. The parliamentary affairs minister Shanti Dhariwal reportedly said that the amendment does not say that child marriages will be valid. 

"You say that child marriages will be validated. Nowhere does this amendment say that such marriages will be valid. A marriage certificate is a legal document, in the absence of which a widow won't receive the benefit of any govt scheme," the minister said. 

While the bill was passed by voice vote, the opposition objected to the amendment of Section 8 of the 2009 act saying that it should be done away with. The 2009 Act had stated the same, with the only difference being that the age mentioned was 21 years for both boys and girls.