New Marriage Law for Muslims. The government has taken a big step in the state of Assam. A new law was brought after abolishing the 90-year-old law for Muslims.
A bill was passed to make Muslim marriage registration compulsory in Assam. It is being told that the state government is going towards the Uniform Civil Court.
The name of the new bill is Assam Compulsory Registration of Muslim Marriages and Divorce Bill 2024.
The government says that the objective is to stop child marriages, which are forced marriages. At the same time, it is to stop polygamy, where more than one marriage is performed by men.
Why the old law is scrapped?
The law was brought during the time of the British. Its name was the Assam Muslim Marriage and Divorce Registration Act 1935.
It has been said that girls above 18 and boys above 21 years of age can marry. But in the law of 1935, Section 8 says if the bride and groom are minors, an application can be made on their behavior by their respective lawful guardians.
Crackdown on child marriages
Last year, the Assam government had arrested more than 4000 people. and the allegation was that these people were getting child marriages done. The Assam government says that we will eliminate child marriages from the state by 2026.
New Marriage Law for Muslims
There were 95 Qazis (marriage registrars) in the Assam. Now their role has been completely abolished. All the marriage registrars of that particular area will register the marriage. From now on, there are the following conditions for the marriage: –
- For a girl or a woman, age should be at least 18 years. The age of the male should be at least 21 years.
- For 30 days you have to be the resident of that district and tell the registrar that you want to get married, and then after 30 days, their marriage gets registered.
- This is like the Special Marriage Act.
- If there are any objections, they can be complained about within 30 days. The inquiry will be done by the registrar only.
- If the officer is involved in cases of corruption, etc. if your age is less. Still, if marriage is registered by bribe, then the officer can be jailed for up to 1 year and a fine of ₹ 50000 can be imposed.
Opposition reaction
The main opposition party, AIUDF. Their leader, Aminul Islam, said that the law was amended in 2010. And if the objective was to stop child marriages, Sections 8 and 10 of the old law of 1935 could have been abolished. There was no need to abolish the entire law.
However, the CM of Assam, Hemant Vishwa Sharma, said it would not have worked, as we wanted the role of Qazi and court to be abolished. The government was also alleging that the court judges used to conduct illegal marriages.
Hemant Vishwa Sharma referred to the 2006 verdict of the Supreme Court. that the Central and State Governments should ensure that there is compulsory registration of all marriages. Keeping this in view, the Assam government has taken this step.
