New Delhi, August 30
In dropping the proposal for an amendment to the Anand Marriage Act of 1909 to provide for compulsory registration of Sikh marriages, the Centre has disregarded a unanimous recommendation the Parliamentary Standing Committee had made in 2007.
A day after the Law Minister justified abandoning the amendment on the grounds that it would breed similar demands from other communities and was against the principles of the uniform civil code, The Tribune has learnt that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice (which is now considering the Lokpal Bill) had, on December 4, 2007, considered the issue and unanimously asked the Congress-led UPA government to come forward with a simple amendment to the Anand Karaj Act to allow Sikh marriages to be registered therein. Besides, two former law ministers - HR Bhardwaj and M Veerappa Moily - gave assurances in the RS to bring about the said amendment.
The Parliamentary Committee chaired by Congressman EM Sudershan Natchiappan, in its meeting held in December 2007, even impressed upon the then Law Secretary KN Chaturvedi of the necessity of the move in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2006 judgment, directing all states and UTs to make registration of marriages mandatory.
The meeting was held to take a view on the matter after 12 Sikh MPs cutting across party lines — including the then Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker Charanjit Atwal of the Akali Dal. He gave a letter to the house panel chief, seeking the amendment to prevent NRI grooms from leaving their wives in the lurch.
Former Rajya Sabha MP Tarlochan Singh, who was member of the said committee, today confirmed to TNS that the panel’s report was extremely positive and favoured the long-standing demand of Sikhs. Singh today even shot off a letter to Law Minister Salman Khursheed, who is also the Minority Affairs Minister. The letter states, “The Sikh minority has been shocked by this unrealistic approach of your ministry. You are also Minister for Minority Affairs where you are supposed to protect the rights of minorities. For long, there is a feeling that the government is showing different treatment to various minority communities,” Singh wrote.
In dropping the proposal for an amendment to the Anand Marriage Act of 1909 to provide for compulsory registration of Sikh marriages, the Centre has disregarded a unanimous recommendation the Parliamentary Standing Committee had made in 2007.
A day after the Law Minister justified abandoning the amendment on the grounds that it would breed similar demands from other communities and was against the principles of the uniform civil code, The Tribune has learnt that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice (which is now considering the Lokpal Bill) had, on December 4, 2007, considered the issue and unanimously asked the Congress-led UPA government to come forward with a simple amendment to the Anand Karaj Act to allow Sikh marriages to be registered therein. Besides, two former law ministers - HR Bhardwaj and M Veerappa Moily - gave assurances in the RS to bring about the said amendment.
The Parliamentary Committee chaired by Congressman EM Sudershan Natchiappan, in its meeting held in December 2007, even impressed upon the then Law Secretary KN Chaturvedi of the necessity of the move in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2006 judgment, directing all states and UTs to make registration of marriages mandatory.
The meeting was held to take a view on the matter after 12 Sikh MPs cutting across party lines — including the then Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker Charanjit Atwal of the Akali Dal. He gave a letter to the house panel chief, seeking the amendment to prevent NRI grooms from leaving their wives in the lurch.
Former Rajya Sabha MP Tarlochan Singh, who was member of the said committee, today confirmed to TNS that the panel’s report was extremely positive and favoured the long-standing demand of Sikhs. Singh today even shot off a letter to Law Minister Salman Khursheed, who is also the Minority Affairs Minister. The letter states, “The Sikh minority has been shocked by this unrealistic approach of your ministry. You are also Minister for Minority Affairs where you are supposed to protect the rights of minorities. For long, there is a feeling that the government is showing different treatment to various minority communities,” Singh wrote.
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