By DC Correspondent
Copyright deccanchronicle
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has directed several States and Union Territories to notify rules within four months for registering Anand Karaj, the Sikh wedding ceremony.The court observed that in a secular framework, which both respects religious identity and ensures civic equality, the law must provide a neutral and workable route for recording and certifying Anand Karaj marriages on par with other marriages.A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta remarked: “The fidelity of a constitutional promise is measured not only by the rights it proclaims, but by the institutions that make those rights usable. In a secular republic, the state must not turn a citizen’s faith into either a privilege or a handicap.”In its September 4 order, the bench noted that although the law recognises Anand Karaj as a valid form of marriage, the absence of a registration mechanism meant the “promise was only half kept.” The court stressed the need for a process that ensures the route from rites to records is open, uniform, and fair.The order came on a plea seeking directions to States and UTs to frame and notify rules under Section 6 of the Anand Marriage Act, 1909 (as amended in 2012), to facilitate registration of marriages solemnised by the Sikh rite.The bench recalled that the 1909 Act was enacted to recognise the validity of marriages performed through Anand Karaj. By the 2012 amendment, Parliament inserted Section 6, imposing a duty on States to make rules for registration, maintain a marriage register, and issue certified extracts, while clarifying that omission to register would not affect the validity of a marriage.The petitioner submitted that while several States and UTs had notified such rules, many had not yet complied. The bench emphasised that Section 6 imposes a positive duty on every State to create a workable registration mechanism for Anand Karaj marriages.“That duty is not contingent on the size of the beneficiary group in any jurisdiction, nor can it be deferred on the footing that other marriage laws exist in parallel,” the bench said. It noted that registration bears directly on equal treatment and civil administration, and that uneven access to this statutory facility creates unequal outcomes for similarly placed citizens.The court underlined the importance of harmonising Anand Karaj registration with existing civil marriage registration regimes, calling it both “practicable and necessary.” “Where a general civil marriage registration framework is in place, it must receive applications for registration of marriages solemnised by Anand Karaj on the same footing as other marriages and, if the parties so request, record that the ceremony was by the Anand rite,” it said.The bench ordered every State and UT that has not yet notified rules under Section 6 to do so within four months.
