No marriage registration facility yet for runaway couples

This came to fore when Navkiran Singh,a lawyer,sought information under the RTI Act from the Haryana Police on various accounts.

The senior police officers have stated in their replies that “there is no facility for registration of marriages of runaway couples”. Also,a majority replied,that no counseling to parents was offered.

Singh was appointed by the high court to find out the ground reality prevailing in the protection homes in Haryana. The court gave a directive to this effect during the resumed hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking protection for runaway couples from their parents and relatives.

In the past,many young men and women have allegedly been hunted down and killed in community revenge for defying the caste laws of marriage. In the dominant Jat community of north India,marriage between men and women belonging to the same gotra (or sub-caste) is considered incestuous. Such cases are invariably brought to the community courts,or khap panchayats,for summary trial and punishment. It was to protect such couples that protection homes were set up.

Singh had filed an application under RTI seeking information as to how many couples have stayed till date in the protection homes. Also,he sought to know whether these couples were already married and if not,then whether they were provided the facility facility of registration of marriage at the protection home.

It also asked whether,while allowing the unmarried couples into the protection homes,it was checked whther they had attained the legal age of marriage.

In response to the RTI application,police officials from eight districts – Sirsa,Jind,Gurgaon,Fatehabad,Panipat,Narnaul,Rohtak and Jhajjar- responded.

It came to fore that from January till August this year,a total of 190 runaway couples stayed in the protection homes in seven districts of Haryana. The maximum number of couples stayed in Panipat (54) followed by Sirsa (38). Thirty-seven couples used the shelter in Jind,while 36 stayed Rohtak,followed by 14 in Narnaul and 10 in Gurgaon. Only one such couple stayed in the protection home set up in Fatehabad.

It may be noted that in October last year,a division bench comprising the then Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Ajay Tewari had directed the states of Punjab and Haryana to “ensure that a registrar of marriages should visit each protection centre at least once a week at a fixed time and date”.

The court had also ordered the State Legal Services Authorities or the District Legal Services Authorities in Punjab,Haryana and Chandigarh to depute a counsel at the said centres at least three times a week to provide legal assistance or counseling to such couples.

Talking to The Indian Express ,Navkiran Singh said, “The order passed by the court was progressive,but no steps have been taken by the state to comply with the directions. The endeavour is to ease the registration of marriages of those couples who want to tie the knot against the wishes of their parents”.