The Assam Cabinet on Friday approved repeal of the Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration Act, 1935. Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote on X that the move will help the government prevent child marriages in the state.
“On February 23, the Assam cabinet made a significant decision to repeal the age-old Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration Act.
This act contained provisions allowing marriage registration even if the bride and groom had not reached the legal ages of 18 and 21, as required by law.
This move marks another significant step towards prohibiting child marriages in Assam,” CM said.
Announcing the Assam Cabinet decision on doing away with what he called a “colonial Act”, Minister Jayanta Malla Baruah said it was “a very important step in the journey towards a Uniform Civil Code” in the state.
34% of state population is Muslim
Muslims constitute 34% of Assam’s total population. A total of 94 registrars were empowered under the Act to register a marriage or divorce.
The Assam government says the Special Marriage Act will now apply.
Tourism Minister and government spokesperson, Jayanta Malla Baruah told journalists after the meeting that the decision to repeal the Act was made as the State is heading towards the UCC.
Baruah said the respective District Commissioners will take custody of the 94 registrars operating under this Act, and that the Cabinet had decided to provide them with a one-time financial compensation of Rs 2 lakh.
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 licenses 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After the law is repealed, such people won’t be able to register marriages and divorces.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provide a one-time compensation of ₹2 lakh each to Muslim Marriage Registrars for their rehabilitation after the Act is repealed.
First step towards UCC in Assam
Chief Minister Sarma has repeatedly said that the Assam government is working towards introducing a UCC.
At the same time, it has also been working on a Bill to ban polygamy, making it a criminal offence.
The state government was in the final lap of its anti-polygamy Bill and was due to introduce it in the ongoing Assembly session.
However, last week, Sarma suggested that it was likely to be put on hold for the time being with the state Cabinet looking to “align” it with a UCC.
Sarma has also previously stated that the state’s tribal communities will be exempt from the UCC.
On multiple occasions, he has mentioned that after Uttarakhand and Gujarat, Assam will be the third state to implement the Uniform Civil Code.
Notably, the Uttarakhand government passed the Uniform Civil Code bill in state assembly. The UCC bill replaces divorces, religious personal laws governing marriages, and inheritance with common rules, equally applicable to people of all religions.
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