New Delhi: The Supreme Court has agreed to list a PUBLIC interest litigation (PIL) seeking directions to states and Union Territories to frame rules for registration of marriages of Sikhs under the Anand Marriage Act, 1909.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said, “Yes, we will list it,” a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said on the plea of the petitioner’s counsel to list the matter for hearing.”
Referring to the Anand Marriage Act, 1909, the petitioner’s counsel told the bench, “This Act deals with a century-old law. The apex court had in November last year issued notice to the Centre, states and Union Territories on a plea filed by advocate Amanjot Singh Chadha.
The Act of 1909 was enacted to give legal sanction to the Ananda work and to remove any doubts about its validity.
The Act was amended in 2012 to fulfil the demand for Sikhs to register their marriages under the Anand Marriage Act. The petitioner contended that under the 2012 amendment, the state governments should have framed rules to facilitate registration of Sikh marriages, which had earlier approached the Uttarakhand High Court on the issue.
He alleged that the state governments and authorities were violating the fundamental rights of citizens under Articles 14, 19, 21, 25, 26 and 29 of the Constitution as they had failed to frame and notify mandatory rules under the Anand Marriage Act, 1909.
The high court had disposed of the petition while directing the Uttarakhand chief secretary to place the above proposal before the cabinet and take steps to publish it in the gazette after approval. The petitioner, however, alleged that the state government has not implemented the high court’s orders.