No separate action from centre for Compulsory registration of marriages

The process for compulsory registration of marriages in the wake of the Supreme Court order of 2006 is being worked out by State Governments and Union Territories and hence, no separate action by the Central Government is considered necessary, Salman Khurshid, Union Minister of Law & Justice has said.

The Supreme Court vide its judgment dated 14.02.2006 in Seema Vs. Ashwani Kumar (AIR 2006 S.C 1158) has directed the State Governments and the Central Government that marriages of all persons who are citizens of India belonging to various religious denomination should be made compulsorily registrable in their respective States where such marriages are solemnized.

The minister in written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha this week said that “it is not correct to say that the process of registration of marriages is cumbersome. The process for compulsory registration of marriage is worked out by respective State Governments and the Union Territory Administrations by making suitable legislation/ rules or by amending existing legislation/ rules on the basis of the situation obtained in their respective territories to make the process simple and easier. Hence, no separate action by the Central Government is considered necessary.”

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Asked action for questionable probe in murder case

Additional sessions judge N K Kaushik has asked Delhi Police commissioner to take action against R R Khatana, for conducting a questionable probe into a murder leading to the acquittal of all three accused. The judge said that inspector had tried to "raise unnecessary dust just to cause utter confusion and hide the truth". Noting that there was a string of lapses in the probe conducted by Khatana in the murder of west Delhi resident Hitender Singh, the court said, "It appears the inspector made it a point, in a calculated manner, may be in collusion with the accused, to ensure the failure of the prosecution's case during investigation itself."

While acquitting the murder accused in the case - Darshan Dabas, Navin Deshwal and Manish Lakra - the court held the inspector responsible for weakening the case and referred the matter to the police commissioner. "A copy of the judgment be sent to the police commissioner to take appropriate action against the delinquent investigating officer (Khatana) for not collecting cogent and requisite evidence in the matter, as per law, to get the offenders of such heinous offence punished," the judge said while also seeking a compliance report of its order from police.

The case dates back to November 10, 2008, when Nazafgarh resident Singh was found dead in his car parked near a banquet hall. Lying in a pool of blood, the man had sustained several bullet injuries. The police had also found the window-pane of the car's front door shattered and the driver's seat soaked in blood. A live cartridge and a shell were also found in the car besides a broken baseball bat stained with blood.

The prosecution had listed 47 witnesses to bolster its case but the public prosecutor later dropped several of them, saying their deposition was irrelevant. During the trial all witnesses including the parents, brothers and the wife of the deceased had turned hostile.

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