 bill no 78 of  2017 the prevention of extravagance and unlimited expenditure on marriages bill, 2017 by shri gopal chinayya shetty, mp a billto provide for the prevention and prohibition of sheer extravagance and unlimited expenditure being incurred on marriages and related ceremonies in various parts of the country and for matters connected therewith or incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-eighth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the prevention of extravagance and unlimited expenditure on marriages act, 2017short title extent and commencement5(2) it extends to the whole of india except the state of jammu and kashmir(3) it shall come into force on such date, as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, appointdefinitions2 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 all other cases, the central government;510(b) 'expenditure on marriage' includes expenses incurred, prior to, during and after the marriage celebrations and related ceremonies on invitation cards, hiring and decoration of pandals, banquet hall, hotel, barat ghar or such other places illumination and fireworks, the bridegroom's procession, luncheon or dinner and other refreshments offered to the guests, wedding clothes, ornaments, jewellery, garlands, any kind of gift, in cash or kind, in the form of dowry or any other local custom;(c) 'prescribed' means prescribed by rules made under this act;(d) 'related ceremonies' includes any custom or ritual, preceding or succeedinga marriage, such as betrothal, engagement, ring exchange, traditional sangeet programme, mehandi, reception or any other ritualistic or traditional customs prevailing in the place153 notwithstanding any tradition or custom prevailing in any religion, community, tribe or sect, the appropriate government shall prescribe an  upper ceiling for the expenditure that can be incurred in any marriage and related ceremonies of a couple, after taking into consideration the demographic details and circumstances of the place concerned:prohibition of extravagance on marriages and relatedceremonies20provided that the appropriate government may, if it considers necessary, makeexceptions and relax the limit of total expenditure in individual cases, based on sound reasons and justifications for such relaxation254 notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being  in force,the appropriate government may issue directions to the local authorities for achieving the objects of this actappropriate government to issue directions penalty5 any person, who violates the provisions of this act, or the rules framed ordirections issued there under, shall be liable to imprisonment for a term which may extend up to one year or fine which may extend up to rupees one lakh or with bothsaving306 nothing contained in this act shall affect the validity of any marriage solemnizedunder the provisions of relevant and applicable acts or personal laws nor shall this act be deemed to directly or indirectly affect the validity of any mode of contracting marriagepower to make rules7 (1) the appropriate government may, by notification in the official gazette, makerules for carrying out the purposes of this act35 40(2) every rule made under this act by the central government shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each house of parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days, which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both the houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule(3) every rule made by the state government under this act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before the state legislature statement of objects and reasonsmarriages in india have become highly extravagant and lavish affairs, involving lakhs, and even crores, of rupees instead of preserving the sanctity of the sacred union of two individuals in life, people are using the marriages and the various ceremonies related to it as an opportunity to show off their wealth and status, with heavily decorated shamianas, banquet halls, sumptuous feasts, special effects, professional dance and music groups, powerful fireworks, etc it is an open secret that, in most of such pompous weddings, any unspecified amount of money, costly gifts, jewellery and other articles are exchanged as 'dowry' even the invitation cards, which used to be very simple and meaningful, have now become a status symbol, with each party trying to outdo the just concluded marriage ceremony in the area people have also started the practice of distributing costly gifts and sweets to the guests attending marriages and receptions and even while giving invitation cards indeed, people are now thinking sky-high to add more colour and pomp to marriages, with weddings nowadays taking place in historic places, luxury yachts, ships, planes, etc at this rate, it will not be far when people start planning to conduct a wedding in the moon!the betrothal or 'engagement' ceremony has now become a mini marriage itself, with hundreds of guests and lavish spending the impact of such growing extravagance in marriages is telling upon the lower-middle and lower class people, who try to match the unabashed and pompous rich marriages, often with borrowed money or by selling their hard-earned assets, and later find themselves in severe debt trap such uncontrolled expenditure on marriages are, in fact, break the very fabric of our society and institutionalizes the practice of dowry and wasteful expenditurethe real victims of these extravagant marriages are the poor people, who do not have adequate resources to marry off their daughters and leave their lives to destinyit is high time that the government take proactive steps to curb the tendency of extravagant expenditure in marriages and related ceremonies, by enacting an appropriate act, to monitor regulate and control the unlimited wasteful expenditure being incurred in the name of marriageshence this billnew delhi;gopal  chinayya  shettymarch 14, 2017 memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 7 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the provisions of the act as the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character———— a billto provide for the prevention and prohibition of sheer extravagance and unlimitedexpenditure being incurred on marriages and related ceremonies in various parts of the country and for matters connected therewith orincidental thereto————(shri gopal chinayya shetty, mp)gmgipmrnd—578ls(s3)—14-06-2017