Indian Supreme Court Asks States to Frame Rules for Anand Marriage Act

The Supreme Court of India (SC) has asked 17 Indian states and 8 Union Territories to frame rules for the registration of Anand Karaj (Blissful Union, Sikh marriage ceremony) within four months. Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta observed that 'in a secular republic, the State must not turn a citizen's faith into either a privilege or a handicap.' In 2012, the government of India passed the Anand Marriage Act as an amendment to the original Anand Marriage Act, 1909 introduced by Tikka Ripudaman Singh of the Nabha princely state to the Imperial Legislative Council in British India. The 2012 Act met a long-standing demand of the Sikhs but Section 6 of the Act cast the duty on respective state governments to make rules to facilitate registration of such marriages, maintain a marriage register, and provide certified extracts. In the last 13 years, many states have failed to do that. In 2022, Amanjot Singh Chaddha, a Nainital-based advocate, filed a petition addressing this lacuna. As of now, in many Indian states and UTs, Sikh marriages are registered under the Hindu Marriage Act (HMA), 1955. Once the Anand Marriage Act is implemented all over India, couples who have registered their marriages under the Act will not have to register their marriages under any other law. The SCI’s order should help Sikhs—especially in the diaspora, who are often at pains to explain why while they identify as Sikh, their marriage is under HMA. However, while the Act provides a framework for registration, it does not include provisions for divorce or other matrimonial disputes. As a result, Sikhs seeking divorce must turn to the HMA to dissolve their marriage. The core issue is Article 25 of the Indian Constitution which does not consider Sikhs to be an independent religion and places them in the larger Hindu fold along with Jains and Buddhists. This lack of clarity on Sikh identity does not allow the community to have their own personal laws. Unless Sikhs can frame their own personal laws and given the gaps in this law, the SCI orders are important, yet mostly cosmetic (earlier coverage).