New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Thursday decided to bring in a bill allowing registration of marriages of Sikhs under the Anand Marriage Act, 1909 meeting a long-standing demand of the community for a separate provision for them instead of being included under the Hindu Marriage Act.
"The Cabinet approved introduction of a Bill in the budget session of Parliament to further amend the Anand Marriage Act, 1909 to provide for registration of marriages under the Act," Union Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters.
The Anand Marriage Act, 1909 was passed by the British but was annulled after partition. Since then the Sikh marriages are registered under the Hindu Marriage Act.
But due to consistent demand from Sikhs, the government agreed to bring in the Bill. Once the new Act comes into force, the Anand Karaj- the term used for Sikh weddings- will be recorded under it.
The Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandak Committee had been pressing for this change for long.
Law Minister Salman Khurshid had promised to bring in a new legislation to ensure this. The announcement was welcomed by the Sikh religious bodies and the clergy in Punjab.
The demand for a separate law was also being made in the wake of complaints about women being exploited in NRI wedlocks as they were unable to produce legal document to prove their marriage which made them vulnerable to exploitation.
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