Rajasthan Govt to withdraw controversial marriage registration bill
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Jaipur: Weeks after it passed a law to register child marriages, the Rajasthan government has now decided to withdraw the controversial 'Rajasthan Compulsory Registration of Marriages Amendment Bill 2021' it had passed in the Assembly on 17 September.
The state Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said that the government will urge the governor to return the bill for legal consultations.
"There has been a controversy in the country that this law will encourage child marriage. We decided that it was not a question of our prestige. We will request the governor to return the bill we have passed," Mr Gehlot said addressing a programme on International Girl Child Day.
"After legal consultation from lawyers, it will be considered whether to take the Bill forward or not," he said.
The opposition BJP and rights activists had objected to a provision in the ''Rajasthan Compulsory Marriage Registration (Amendment) Bill 2021'' that allowed registration of marriage even if the bride and the groom had not attained the legal age to tie the knot.
Mr Gehlot said that it is the government's resolve that child marriages do not occur at any cost in Rajasthan.
"I want to assure you that I will not compromise on that. We will get it re-examined and if we consider it necessary then we will take it forward or else we will not take it forward. We have no problem," the chief minister said.
Despite a ban on child marriages, the state has been reporting such cases over the years.
Mr Gehlot said that the Supreme Court had made it necessary to register every marriage after which the Bill was introduced and passed.
He said that legal opinion was taken earlier and the government will take it further also so that child marriages never happen in Rajasthan.
"The Supreme Court stated that marriage should be registered, be it of anyone. In view of this, a bill was passed in the assembly, but a controversy erupted that this law will encourage child marriage," he said.
The Bill was passed in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly on September 17 amid objections from opposition BJP MLAs who walked out of the assembly.
