What is in news : Rajasthan’s marriage registration Bill passed last month by the Rajasthan Assembly, which amended a 2009 law on mandatory registration of marriages, including child marriages, has been embroiled in controversy.

What :

• The Rajasthan Compulsory Registration of Marriages (Amendment) Bill, 2021
  • Amends Section 8 of the Rajasthan Compulsory Registration of Marriages Act, 2009,
  • Deals with “Duty to submit Memorandum”.
  • Defines Memorandum as the “Memorandum for registration of marriage.”

Why the amendment :

• Would bring the age in line with central legislation which recognises the age of 18 as majority for a girl and 21 for a boy
• Registration of child marriages would help in their faster annulment and help the government reach out to more victims

Criticisms:

• Compulsory registration of child marriage would legitimise it
• Marriage certificate might in fact, become a hurdle in getting an annulment later as courts could cite lack of a marriage certificate as a reason to not grant an annulment
• Child marriages are conducted mostly away from the public glare and could be hard to prove.
• Only restricts its scope to women till the age of 18.