 bill no xxi  of 2006 the compulsory  registration of  marriages  bill, 2006 a billto provide for the compulsory registration of all marriages solemnized in the country soas to prevent child marriages, check bigamy or polygamy, help women to exercise their rights of maintenance from husband and custody of children, enable widowsto claim inheritance and to serve as deterrent to husband deserting theirwives and for matters connected therewith or incidental theretobe  it enacted by parliament in the fifty-seventh year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the compulsory registration of marriages act, 2006(2) it extends to the whole of indiashort title, extend and commencement(3) it shall come into force with immediate effect5definitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "appropriate government" means in the case of a state, the government of that state and in other cases the central government(b) "designated authority" means an authority or an officer designated for the purpose of registration of marriages under section 4(c) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act5compulsory registration of marriage3  (1) notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in forceor in any custom or usage to the contrary, all the marriages solemnized in the country after the commencement of this act shall be registered within sixty days of solemnization of marriage in such manner as may be prescribed(2) it shall be the responsibility of each husband to get his marriage registered with thedesignated authority10establishment of designateauthority4 (1) the appropriate government shall, by notification in the official gazettedesignate an authority or an officer for registration of marriages, where no such authorityor officer exists, in each district within its jurisdiction15(2) the designated authority shall maintain a register of marriage containing suchparticulars and details as may be prescribed and shall also keep the same in electronic form(3) the appropriate government shall prescribe the documents relating tosolemnization of marriage, which shall be furnished for the registration of the marriage(4) after the registration of the marriage under the provisions of this act, a marriagecertificate shall be issued to the couple giving such details as may be prescribed205  notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force orany custom, the marriage performed after the commencement of this act shall be null and void if not registered within sixty days of solemnization of marriagemarriage without registration to be null and voidpenalty256  if a person fails to register his marriage within the prescribed period or gives falseinformation in registering his marriage, he shall be liable for fine which may extend to five thousand rupees:provided that such a person shall also not be entitled to any benefits under thevarious schemes of appropriate governments or their undertakings 7 the central government shall, after due appropriation made in this behalf, provide such sums of money as it may think fit for being utilised for the purposes of this actcentral government to provide money30power to remove difficulty8 if any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this act, the centralgovernment may, by order published in the official gazette, make such provisions, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, as appear to it to be necessary or expedient for removing the difficulty:35provided that no such orders shall be made after the expiry of the period of three yearsfrom the date of commencement of this actoverriding effect of the act9 the provisions of this act shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistenttherewith contained in any other law for the time being in force, but save as aforesaid, the provisions of this act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any other law for the time being applicable to marriages40power to make rules10 the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules forcarrying out the purposes of this act statement  of  objects  and  reasonsin our country, marriage is treated as an institution our culture assigns great value to the solemnization of marriage between two individuals but, of late, there are numerous instances of abuse of the institution of marriage it has been seen that many times unscrupulous husbands altogether deny marriage leaving their wives in lurch, be it for seeking maintenance, custody of children or inheritance of property then, there are states where child marriages are rampant without any check every year, lakhs of marriages are performed in our country mostly in traditional way most of these marriages have no official record, as hardly a few of these marriages are registered recently, the supreme court, moved by the plight of women fighting for their right under wedlock, ruled that all marriages should be registered in order to prevent child marriages, check bigamy or polygamy, help women to exercise their rights of maintenance from husband and custody of children and enable widows to claim inheritance there is no such law at present to provide for compulsory registration of marriages in the country, though four states, namely, maharashtra, gujarat, karnataka and himachal pradesh have enacted laws for compulsory registration of marriage the proposal for a uniform law for the country has been pending for the last 15 yearstherefore, it is high time that a law on compulsory registration of marriage is enacted hence this billvanga  geetha financial  memorandumclause 4 of the bill provides that the appropriate government shall appoint designated authority or an officer for registration of marriages the expenditure in relation to union territories in this regard shall fall on the central government clause 7 of the bill provides that the central government shall provide required funds for the purposes of this bill the bill, therefore, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that a recurring expenditure of rupees twenty crore will be required for the purpose non-recurring expenditure to the tune of rupees one crore will also be required memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 10 of the bill gives power to the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of this bill the rules will relate to the matters of detail onlythe delegation of legislative power is of normal character————— a billto provide for the compulsory registration of all marriages solemnized in the country so as to prevent child marriages, check bigamy or polygamy, help women to exercise their rights of maintenance from husband and custody of children, enable widows to claim inheritance and to serve as deterrent to husband deserting their wives and for matters connected therewith and incidental thereto————(shrimati vanga geetha, mp)mgipmrnd—6492rs(s1)—16-3-2006