Registration of marriages : a legal requirement or mere formality ?

INTRODUCTION :
Marriage is a union of individuals as spouses and is identified through habitable continuity. For most people in India, marriage is a one-time occasion in life, which is sanctified and glorified with tons of social approval. Marriage is a social requirement.
After the marriage is solemnized among the bride and the groom, certain necessities should be fulfilled to offer it a legal standing, i.e., to make it legitimate under the legal guidelines accepted in India by registering it.

IMPORTANCE OF REGISTRATION
Registration of marriage could assist in the higher implementation of already current laws that intends at stopping child marriage. It could additionally aid in casting off practices such as early and pressured marriages. It could help achieve gender fairness and enable women and would likewise verify that the minimum age of marriage is followed. Also, such regulation will take a look at illegal marriage or polygamy and amongst different matters would allow married women to declare their right to stay in the matrimonial home, declare protection, etc., and consequently will be a step-in route of empowerment of women. A registered marriage not just sets up the status of the partner but also permits succession matters.
United Nations has additionally regarded the significance of developing a report of critical events inclusive of birth, death, and marriage. The creation of any such civil registry for residents serves as the reason for making a legal file that might be used to defend and establish the rights of individuals. This also affects the creation of a database that includes important statistics of essential and relevant life events.

MARRIAGE REGISTRATION
Marriage registration is a legal requirement in India, made compulsory by Supreme Court directives and various state laws, and it is far from a mere formality. It provides legal recognition for a marriage, enabling access to crucial benefits like spousal support, child custody, inheritance, and property rights, and is essential for establishing marital status in legal proceedings, preventing fraud, and facilitating international travel.

• LEGAL REQUIREMENT:
  Supreme Court Mandate:
  In 2006, the Supreme Court of India in Seema v. Ashwani Kumar directed that all marriages should be compulsorily registered. However, uniform implementation across India has been left to the States, many of which have enacted rules/laws to enforce this directive.
• State-Specific Laws:
  States have enacted laws and rules to ensure compliance with these directives, making registration mandatory under acts like the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, or the Special Marriage Act, 1954.
• Essential for Legal Standing:
  A registered marriage is a legally recognized contract that confers rights and responsibilities, making the marriage certificate vital in any legal dispute.

• WHY IT'S NOT A FORMALITY:
  Access to Benefits:
  Registration is required to claim benefits like alimony, judicial separation, child custody, property ownership, and inheritance.
• Proof of Marriage:
  The marriage certificate serves as definitive legal proof of the union, recognized internationally and sufficient to establish marital status.
• Preventing Malpractices:
  Compulsory registration helps governments enforce laws against bigamy, polygamy, and child marriages, ensuring marriages are entered into with full consent.
• Legal Recourse and Protection:
  It provides a legal framework for the well-being of both partners and their children, particularly in cases of divorce or when one spouse dies, facilitating insurance claims and other legal processes.
• Official Records and Transparency:
  Registration helps maintain official records, promotes transparency, and prevents fraudulent claims related to marital status.

IS COMPULSORY REGISTRATION OF MARRIAGE REQUIRED IN INDIA?
A religious marriage ceremony in India is considered to be a legal marriage. However, getting a legal registration certificate will prove your marriage valid under the court of law. Getting your marriage registered under the court of law will help you get a visa, for which a formal registration certificate is required from the Registrar of Marriages.
Since India is known to be the boiling pot of various religions and cultures, there are different rules for different religions. These rules are governed by the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, Muslim Marriage Act, 1939, and Christian Marriage Act, 1872 including the Parsee Marriage and Divorce Act, 1988.

SIGNIFICANCE OF REGISTRATION OF MARRIAGE
Registering marriages is a necessary reform and in its absence women can become mere victims of feud. It deprives women of societal recognition and legal security. Compulsory registration of marriage will ensure that conditions of a valid marriage have been fulfilled. Without compulsory registration women are deceived into marrying without fulfilling the conditions of a legal marriage.
The commission on the compulsory registration of marriages in India has supported the need for registration since its inception. The committee has instituted such a reform in order to safeguard women and prevent them from evil practices such as:

• Child marriage and to ensure minimum age of marriage
• Polygamy unless the same is permitted under any law or custom.
• To ensure that woman before marriage gets a notice of intended marriage
• Enable married women including women married to NRI/ foreigners to claim right to shelter and maintenance
• Men from deserting women after marriage including the act of deterrent to the practice of selling daughters to any person (foreigner) under the ambit of getting married.

Compulsory Registration Of Marriage Bill, 2005
With no compulsion for registration of marriages in India through one central law, it is necessary that the Central Government makes provisions to register all marriages, that have taken place in their States/Union Territories or elsewhere. Thus, all marriages in whatever form, should be registered in order to secure women from harassment. Non-registration of marriage affects women, thus making them victims of bigamous relationships. Property disputes arise without a marriage certificate as a couple may not have evidence of marriage under the court of law.
Due to such instances, the Central Government has made it mandatory for all States in India to make birth registration compulsory and also asked to legislate compulsory registration marriages. This was suggested on the criteria that States have better understanding of the social structure and local conditions existing in their respective states.

PENALTIES FOR NOT FOLLOWING MARRIAGE REGISTRATION PROCESS
Section 25-28 of the Bill talks about penalties that will be levied in cases such that:

• Penalties Imposed For Destroying/ Altering Register
  Any person who tampers with or dishonestly or fraudulently alters the register or any part thereof will be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years and with a fine of ? 5000.
• Penalty For Not Complying With Provisions Of Section 13
  Any person who willfully omits or neglects to submit to the Registrar the Memorandum as required by Section 13, shall be punished with a fine of ? 500.
• Penalties For Making False Statements In Memorandum
  Any person who makes or verifies any statement in such Memorandum that is false in any material particular, which he/she knows or has a reason to believe to be false, shall be punished with an imprisonment for 2 months and fine that may extend to ? 5000.
• Operation Of Other Penal laws
  There will be punishment for any offence under this Act that will be considered an addition to the punishment provided for the offence by other penal laws.