{"id":64563,"date":"2025-09-22T11:02:42","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T05:32:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=64563"},"modified":"2025-09-22T11:02:42","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T05:32:42","slug":"sc-ruling-on-anand-marriage-act-sikh-marriage-rights-and-legal-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/sc-ruling-on-anand-marriage-act-sikh-marriage-rights-and-legal-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"SC Ruling on Anand Marriage Act: Sikh Marriage Rights and Legal Debate"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Anand Marriage Act Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Supreme Court has ordered 17 states and eight Union Territories to frame rules within four months for registering Sikh marriages under the <\/span><b>Anand Marriage Act, 1909<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Until then, Anand Karaj marriages must be registered under existing marriage laws.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ruling aims to ensure uniform legal recognition of Sikh marriages across India.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, critics argue that while the directive addresses procedural gaps, it does not fix deeper shortcomings in the Act itself, leaving broader issues unresolved.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>The Anand Marriage Act and Its 2012 Amendment<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Anand Karaj, meaning \u201cblissful union,\u201d is the Sikh marriage ceremony conducted before the Guru Granth Sahib.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To solemnise the marriage, the couple walks around the Guru Granth Sahib four times, as hymns, known as laavan, are recited.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The four chosen verses, <\/span><b>composed by Guru Ram Das<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the fourth Sikh Guru, outline the spiritual journey of a married couple.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To secure distinct legal recognition for this practice, the <\/span><b>Anand Marriage Act, 1909<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was enacted, validating all marriages solemnised through Anand Karaj and distinguishing them from Hindu rituals.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the original Act lacked provisions for registration.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This gap was filled over a century later by the <\/span><b>Anand Marriage (Amendment) Act, 2012<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which inserted Section 6 mandating states to frame rules for registering such marriages.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once registered under this Act, couples no longer need to register under any other marriage law.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>State Inaction and Supreme Court\u2019s Intervention<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite the <\/span><b>2012 Amendment<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> mandating registration rules for Anand Karaj marriages, most states and Union Territories failed to act, denying Sikh couples legal certificates essential for residence, maintenance, inheritance, and succession.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Highlighting this inaction, petitions were filed in the Supreme Court in 2022, arguing that uneven access to rights disenfranchised the community.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a result, the Court directed all states and UTs to frame rules within four months, stressing that in a secular framework, Anand Karaj marriages must be registered on par with others.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It placed a <\/span><b>positive duty on states<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to create workable registration systems and clarified that applications cannot be refused merely because rules have not been notified.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>The Ongoing Debate on Sikh Marriage Rights<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite legal recognition through the <\/span><b>Anand Marriage Act, 1909<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and its <\/span><b>2012 Amendment<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, most Sikh couples still register marriages under the <\/span><b>Hindu Marriage Act, 1955<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which also governs divorce and disputes.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Anand Act <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lacks provisions for divorce or matrimonial issues<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, forcing Sikhs to rely on Hindu law, undermining their distinct religious identity.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Community leaders and scholars argue that Sikhs need a <\/span><b>comprehensive marriage law<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> similar to those for Muslims and Christians.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Critics highlight that the Anand Act, barely a page long, is symbolic rather than substantive, offering limited rights and failing to fully recognise Sikhs as a separate community.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Importance of Marriage Registration<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Supreme Court stressed that marriage registration is essential for equality, civil administration, and legal proof of status in matters such as residence, maintenance, inheritance, insurance, succession, and monogamy.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It also safeguards the rights of women and children.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Emphasising uniformity, the bench stated that in a secular framework, marriages solemnised by <\/span><b>Anand Karaj<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> must be recorded and certified on the same footing as other marriages to ensure both religious respect and civic equality.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-law\/why-sc-order-on-anand-marriage-act-wont-end-old-debate-10261997\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.moneycontrol.com\/news\/india\/sc-wants-states-to-notify-rules-on-sikh-marriage-registration-what-is-anand-karaj-13561119.html#google_vignette\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">MC<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SC directs states to frame rules for Sikh marriage registration under Anand Marriage Act. Debate continues on identity, divorce, and community rights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":64579,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[2827,60,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-64563","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-anand-marriage-act","9":"tag-mains-articles","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}