New Delhi: The Supreme Court has directed all states and union territories to notify rules within four months for the registration of marriages solemnised through ‘Anand Karaj’, the Sikh wedding ceremony.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta observed that in a secular republic, laws must provide equal mechanisms for recording marriages of all faiths. The court underlined that “the fidelity of a constitutional promise is measured not only by the rights it proclaims, but by the institutions that make those rights usable.”
The bench noted that while the law recognises Anand Karaj as a valid form of marriage, the absence of a uniform registration framework leaves the promise “only half kept.” It stressed that the state must not convert a citizen’s faith into either a privilege or a handicap.
The directive came on a plea seeking implementation of Section 6 of the Anand Marriage Act, 1909, as amended in 2012, which mandates states and UTs to frame rules for recording Sikh marriages. The Act, first enacted in 1909, specifically recognised the validity of marriages solemnised through Anand Karaj.
