Assam repeals Muslim marriages, divorce registration act

"We had noticed that this present legislation was being used to register marriages of boys and girls under the permissible age," said the tourism minister.

The Assam cabinet on Friday decided to repeal an 89-year-old legislation involving the registration of marriages and divorces by Muslims residing in the state.

"Our chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had already announced that Assam would be implementing a uniform civil code. Today we have taken a very important decision in that journey by deciding to repeal the Assam Moslem Marriage and Divorce Registration Act, 1935," informed tourism minister Jayanta Malla Baruah.

The Act provided for voluntary registration of Muslim marriages and divorces and allowed the government to provide a licence to a Muslim person authorising him to register Muslim marriages and divorces on applications for such registration.

"Today's development means that it won't be possible to register Muslim marriages and divorces under this legislation any more in Assam. We already have a Special Marriage Act, and we want all marriages to be registered under provisions of that," Baruah stated.

He informed that Assam has at present 94 authorised persons who could register Muslim marriages and divorces. But with the cabinet decision, their authority would cease to exist after the issuance of directions for the same by district authorities.

"Since these persons were earning a livelihood by registering marriages and divorces, the state cabinet has decided to provide them with a one-time compensation of ₹2 lakhs each," said Baruah.

He said that apart from moving a step closer towards a uniform civil code, the cabinet felt it was necessary to repeal the Act, which was old and was in operation since British days and didn't match with today's societal norms.

"We had noticed that this present legislation was being used to register marriages of boys and girls under the permissible age. We think that today's move will be a big step in curbing such child marriages," the minister said.

On 12 February, CM Sarma stated that his government is planning to bring robust legislation banning polygamy and implementing of uniform civil code (UCC) in the state.

"We were following (legislation to ban) polygamy, but Uttarakhand has passed the UCC (Bill). We are now working on aligning both (issues) so that we can prepare robust legislation. We are working on that," Sarma had said.

He had mentioned that an expert committee would see how to align both polygamy and UCC in the same legislation.

The government had planned to table a Bill banning polygamy in the ongoing budget session of the assembly, but it hasn't happened yet.

What will change after the implementation of this order?

The law currently provides the facility of voluntary registration of Muslim marriages and divorces. It also authorised the government to provide licence to Muslim people to register such marriages and divorces.

After the law is repealed, such people won't be able to register marriages and divorces.

After repealing the law, the Assam government said district commissioners and district registrars will take custody of registration records held by 94 Muslim Marriage Registrars.

The government will provide a one-time compensation of ₹2 lakh each to Muslim Marriage Registrars for their rehabilitation after the Act is repealed.

Baruah said the Assam government wants all such marriages to be registered under the Special Marriage Act.

He said the Act was being used to register the marriages of underaged boys and girls.

Government's UCC promise

Since Himanta Biswa Sarma became the chief minister of the state, bringing the UCC has been his main promise to the people of Assam. Earlier this month, he said the government will ban polygamy in the state.

He has often said that after Uttarakhand and Gujarat, Assam will be the third state to implement the Uniform Civil Code.

The Uttarakhand government earlier this month passed the Uniform Civil Code bill in its assembly. The bill replaces several religious personal laws governing marriages, divorces and inheritance with common rules, equally applicable to people of all religions.

In January, Sarma said Assam's UCC bill follows those brought by Uttarakhand and Gujarat. He said the tribal community will be exempted from the ambit of the Uniform Civil Code. He said the UCC bill can be brought in 2-3 months.

The Uttarakhand bill also exempts tribals. The Muslim bodies have questioned the exemption. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi had claimed UCC was in violation of the fundamental rights of the Muslim community.