THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government has instructed registrars of local bodies not to ask for documents regarding the religion or caste of people approaching them for marriage certificates. The circular issued by the Local Self-Government Department on Wednesday also ordered the registrars not to ask for documents to establish the religion under which the marriage was taking place. They can ask for proof of date of birth of a couple and their marriage, said the circular, which was issued following a Kerala High Court verdict.
The HC had on October 12, 2022, held that an application submitted by a couple for registration of marriage under the Kerala Registration of Marriages (Common) Rules, 2008, could not be rejected for the simple reason that the father or mother of one of the parties belonged to a different religion.
Justice P V Kunhikrishnan had made the judgment on a writ petition filed by Lalan and Ayisha, a couple from Udayamperoor in Ernakulam, challenging the decision of the Registrar of Marriages in Kochi Corporation to reject their request for registration of marriage. They said the registrar refused their request saying Ayisha’s mother was a Muslim while her husband was a Hindu.
The couple said their marriage was solemnised as per Hindu religious rites. The court had observed that the religions of the parties were not a consideration for registering marriages. It said if there was a declaration from a gazetted officer, an MP, MLA, or a member of a local self-government institution in Form 2 under the rules, the registration could not be rejected “simply because the mother of one of the parties is a Muslim and the other party is a Hindu.”