Religion-neutral registration of marriages gets Indian Cabinet nod

New Delhi, Apr 13 (PTI) In a measure that will give relief to couples having inter-religion wedlocks, the Indian Government has approved a proposal to enable registration of religion-neutral marriages. The proposal, approved Thursday by the Indian Cabinet, has been brought in the form of an amendment to the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 and a bill in this regard will be introduced in the second half of the Budget Session of Parliament starting on April 24. The Cabinet also gave approval to another bill under which Sikhs would be able to register their marriages 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 Anand Marriage Act was passed by the British but was annulled after partition. Since then the Sikh marriages are being registered under the Hindu Marriage Act. The proposed bill to amend the Registration of Births and Deaths Act to also provide for registration of marriages will save women in case of inter-religion marriages from unnecessary harassment in matrimonial and maintenance cases, an official release said. It will also provide evidentiary value in the matters of custody of children, right of children born from the wedlock and the age of the persons married, it said. There have been demands by minorities, including Sikhs, for such a provision as weddings are currently registered under Hindu Marriage Act and they are shown as Hindus in official documents. Besides Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists are also issued certificates under this Act. According to Law Ministry officials, making registration of marriages religion neutral would help couples who face social and community pressures for having married according to their wishes. The present system of issuing religion-based certificates will continue. PTI