The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday charged that the Rajasthan Compulsory Registration of Marriages (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which was passed in the state assembly by voice vote to amend a 2009 Act on mandatory registration of marriages within 30 days of the union, will legitimise child marriages. The Opposition also staged a walkout although parliamentary affairs minister Shanti Kumar Dhariwal defending the Bill by saying that Dhariwal said that the registration of child marriage does not mean giving validity to it. He also secure that action will be taken against those who organise child marriages even after registering it. He said registration of child marriages is not meant to legitimise them and insisted that if a minor is married, then upon becoming major he or she will have the right to annul the marriage.
The Bill covers the issue of child marriage by stating that a marriage between a bridegroom who has not completed 21 years and a bride who has not completed 18 years of age could be registered by the parents or guardians within 30 days of the marriage. The minister also added that “this amendment is not in contradiction to the central law”. He pointed out that “the Supreme Court has also ruled that there should be compulsory registration of marriages. Hence, the Bill includes child marriages.”
