Assam government introduces bill to repeal law on Muslim marriages and divorces

The Assam government introduced a bill to repeal a law that registers marriages and divorces of Muslims, stating that it had the potential to allow marriages of minors from the community. 

Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Jogen Mohan tabled The Assam Repealing Bill, 2024 in the Assembly to abolish The Assam Moslem Marriages and Divorces Registration Act, 1935, and the Assam Repealing Ordinance 2024. 

'There remains a scope of registering marriages of the intended person below 21 years (in case of male) and 18 years (in case of female),' he said in the Statement of Object and Reasons of the Repealing Bill. It hardly had any provisions for monitoring the implementation of the Act throughout the state and it attracted huge amounts of litigation in the court, he added. 

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'There is a scope of misuse by both authorised licensees (Muslim marriage Registrars) as well as by citizens for underage/minor marriages and forcefully arranged marriages without the consent of the parties,' Mohan said. 

Besides, the registration of marriages and divorces was not mandatory, and the registration mechanism was informal leaving a lot of scope for non-compliance of the norms, he added.

 'It is a pre-independence Act adopted by the British India Government for the then Province of Assam for Muslim religious and social arrangements,' the minister said. 

On Wednesday, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the Assam government will introduce a bill in the ongoing Autumn Session for compulsory government registration of marriage and divorce of Muslim people.