A Bench comprising Justices Lanusungkum Jamir and Kaushik Goswami ordered the state government to submit a response within four weeks to the petition filed by the All Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registrar and Kazi Association. The Court also indicated that it would consider the issue of interim relief at the next hearing.
Gauhati: On Wednesday (4th Dec), the Gauhati High Court instructed the Assam government to respond to a petition challenging the constitutionality of the newly enacted Assam Compulsory Registration of Muslim Marriages and Divorces Act, 2024.
A Bench comprising Justices Lanusungkum Jamir and Kaushik Goswami ordered the state government to submit a response within four weeks to the petition filed by the All Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registrar and Kazi Association. The Court also indicated that it would consider the issue of interim relief at the next hearing.
The 2024 law replaces the Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration Act, 1935, which previously allowed qazis/kazis to register Muslim marriages. The new law establishes a government registration system and aims to address issues such as child marriage, polygamy, and desertion of wives.
The petitioner-association is seeking the reinstatement of the repealed 1935 Act, arguing that amending it would have sufficed to address any shortcomings, rather than repealing it entirely.
Advocate Adeel Ahmed represented the petitioner.
The bill for the new law was passed by the Assam Legislative Assembly in August 2024. It mandates government registration for Muslim marriages and divorces in Assam, with the stated aim of addressing alleged issues like child marriage, polygamy, and abandonment of wives.
Importantly, the law abolishes the qazi system, under which Muslim clerics traditionally registered marriages. The new law requires all marriages to be registered with the government.
The petitioner argues that this change will negatively impact qazis’ ability to perform their duties, endanger their livelihoods, and harm the legal rights of the Muslim community in Assam.
The 2024 law, they contend, violates their rights under Articles 25 (Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice, and propagation of religion) and 26 (Freedom to manage religious affairs) of the Constitution of India.
The plea further asserts that marriage and divorce are governed by religious practices, and interfering with the registration system by repealing the law would breach these constitutional rights.
The petitioner also refutes the State’s claim that Muslim marriages were previously not required to be compulsorily registered, pointing to a 2010 amendment that made registration mandatory. Additionally, the association noted that it had previously submitted a memorandum to the State’s Chief Minister proposing amendments to the 1935 Act to align the legal marriage age for Muslims with the law, setting it at 21 for males and 18 for females. These amendments, the association argued, would have addressed any deficiencies in the earlier law.
[Case Title: All Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registrar and Kazi Association v. State of Assam and Ors]
