THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Thanks to an intervention by the local self government (LSG) department, a woman’s marriage was registered 15 years after divorce to enable her claim her father’s ex-serviceman family pension. The woman, who had married in February 2003 at Vandanam in Alappuzha, obtained divorce from the Ettumanoor family court in September 2007.
However, the marriage held in 2003 was not registered with the LSG department. After the demise of her father, who was in the Army, the woman applied for family pension. When she submitted the divorce certificate, she was also asked to submit the marriage registration certificate, as per rules. As per the Kerala Registration of Marriages (Common) Rules, 2008, both husband and wife should sign on the application for marriage registration. As the woman’s former husband refused to sign, the application for marriage registration was rejected by the panchayat registrar.
Though rules state that one of the spouses can apply for marriage registration if the other is no more, the rules do not specify the process in cases where the divorce has happened and both the former partners are alive. Following LSG Minister M B Rajesh’s direction, a special order was issued to register the marriage.
The woman applied again at the Ambalappuzha (north) panchayat office on Tuesday and by evening, the marriage registration certificate was provided online to her. The minister said the special order was issued as family pension was very crucial for the divorced woman.