The Assam Cabinet on Friday authorized repeal of the Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration Act, 1935. Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote on X that the transfer will assist the federal government stop youngster marriages within the state.

“On February 23, the Assam cabinet made a significant decision to repeal the age-old Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration Act. This act contained provisions allowing marriage registration even if the bride and groom had not reached the legal ages of 18 and 21, as required by law. This move marks another significant step towards prohibiting child marriages in Assam,” he stated.

Elaborating on why it determined to repeal the act, the federal government stated that below the legislation, registration of marriages and divorces is not necessary as per the Act. It additionally stated that the equipment of registration is casual, leaving a number of scope for non-compliance of norms.

“As per provisions of the Act, there remains scope for registering marriages of intended persons below 21 years (for males) and 18 years (for females) and there is hardly any monitoring for implementation of the Act,” state authorities stated, per ANI.

Assam minister Jayanta Malla Baruah informed HT that the transfer is a step in the direction of implementing the Uniform Civil Code within the state.

Also read: Tribals to be exempted from Uniform Civil Code in Assam: CM Himanta

What will change after the implementation of this order?

The legislation presently gives the power of voluntary registration of Muslim marriages and divorces. It additionally authorised the federal government to offer licenses to Muslim folks to register such marriages and divorces.

After the legislation is repealed, such folks will not be capable of register marriages and divorces.

After repealing the legislation, the Assam authorities stated district commissioners and district registrars will take custody of registration data held by 94 Muslim Marriage Registrars.

The authorities will present a one-time compensation of ₹2 lakh every to Muslim Marriage Registrars for his or her rehabilitation after the Act is repealed.

Baruah stated the Assam authorities desires all such marriages to be registered below the Special Marriage Act.

He stated the Act was getting used to register the marriages of underaged girls and boys.

Also read: Assam cabinet approves to repeal Muslim marriages, divorce registration Act

Government’s UCC promise

Since Himanta Biswa Sarma grew to become the chief minister of the state, bringing the UCC has been his fundamental promise to the folks of Assam. Earlier this month, he stated the federal government will ban polygamy within the state.

He has usually stated that after Uttarakhand and Gujarat, Assam would be the third state to implement the Uniform Civil Code.

The Uttarakhand authorities earlier this month handed the Uniform Civil Code invoice in its meeting. The invoice replaces a number of non secular private legal guidelines governing marriages, divorces and inheritance with frequent guidelines, equally relevant to folks of all religions.

In January, Sarma stated Assam’s UCC invoice follows these introduced by Uttarakhand and Gujarat. He stated the tribal group shall be exempted from the ambit of the Uniform Civil Code. He stated the UCC invoice may be introduced in 2-3 months.

The Uttarakhand invoice additionally exempts tribals. The Muslim our bodies have questioned the exemption. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi had claimed UCC was in violation of the basic rights of the Muslim group.