Rajasthan passes bill to legitimise Child Marriages, opposition demands withdrawal

JAIPUR: The Rajasthan Assembly passed a bill to amend an act (Rajasthan Compulsory Registration of Marriages Act) on mandatory registration of marriages, including child marriages.

The bill proposes to amend, inter alia, Section 8 of the 2009 Act, which speaks of the duty of parties to submit a Memorandum for registration of marriage to the marriage of the Registrar within whose jurisdiction the marriage is solemnized.

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The amendment bill seeks to make it the duty of the following to submit the memorandum to the registrar:-

• Parties to the marriage [will be applicable in case the bridegroom has completed the age of 21 and/or bride has completed age of 18), or
• In case the bridegroom has not completed the age of 20 and/or bride is below 18 years of age, the parents or, as the case maybe, guardian of the parties.

The Congress government in the state said that the bill has been brought on the basis of a Supreme Court order.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators walked out of the House and questioned the need for the registration of child marriages and demanded the withdrawal of the bill.

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