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| Govt Approves Separate Law for Sikh Marriages | | | Agencies
NEW DELHI, Apr 12: The Union Cabinet today decided to bring in a bill allowing registration of marriages of Sikhs under the Anand Marriage Act, 1909 meeting a long-standing demand of the community for a separate provision for them instead of being included under the Hindu Marriage Act.
"The Cabinet approved introduction of a Bill in the budget session of Parliament to further amend the Anand Marriage Act, 1909 to provide for registration of marriages under the Act," Union Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters.
The Anand Marriage Act, 1909 was passed by the British but was annulled after partition. Since then the Sikh marriages are registered under the Hindu Marriage Act.
But due to consistent demand from Sikhs, the government agreed to bring in the Bill. Once the new Act comes into force, the Anand Karaj- the term used for Sikh weddings- will be recorded under it.
The Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandak Committee had been pressing for this change for long.
Law Minister Salman Khurshid had promised to bring in a new legislation to ensure this. The announcement was welcomed by the Sikh religious bodies and the clergy in Punjab.
The demand for a separate law was also being made in the wake of complaints about women being exploited in NRI wedlocks as they were unable to produce legal document to prove their marriage which made them vulnerable to exploitation.Former Chairman, National Commission for Minorities Tarlochan Singh had moved a Private Member's Bill in 2005 as member of the Rajya Sabha to amend the Anand Marriage Act, 1909.
"This was a long-standing demand of the Sikhs, especially those living abroad as they were facing an identity crisis as their marriage certificate was under the Hindu Marriage Act," Singh told PTI.
The Bill moved by Singh was studied by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice headed by E M S Natchiappan.
It was passed unanimously by all the members of the Committee, Singh claimed.
Even after being cleared by the Standing Committee, the Bill did not get Cabinet clearance. Khurshid's predecessors in the Law Ministry- H R Bhardwaj and M Veerappa Moily- had also promised to get it passed but could not do so. |
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