AARTI SINGH Vs. CHIEF REGISTRAR UNDER REGISTRATION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners seek for a direction for registration of their marriage under the Haryana Compulsory Registration Marriages Act, 2008. The petitioners' grievance is that the Registering Officer, 4th respondent, requires the concurrence of the parents for registration. Since they have married against the wishes of parents, the contention in the writ petition is that, it will not be possible to secure their concurrence. The insistence for such a course by the Registering Officer is not in accordance with law.

(2.) The State does not join issues on the alleged insistence for concurrence of the parents but states that after their marriage, the petitioners are now the residents at Shahabad, within the limits of the Municipal Corporation and in terms of a notification, dated 18.08.2008, issued by the Government under Section 5 of the Act, only the Joint Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation or the Executive Officer/Secretary to the Municipal Committee/Council, would be the Registrar of Marriages under the Act.

(3.) The learned counsel for the petitioners points out that the jurisdictional Registrar under Section 7 is, (i) the Registrar of the area in which the marriage was solemnized; (ii) the ordinary place of residence of the bride/her parents or bridegroom/his parents. The ordinary place of residence, according to the petitioner, is just as well the place where one of the spouses resided till the date of marriage and in the form of application submitted for registration of marriage. The 1st petitioner has declared her ordinary place of residence to be Ajrana Kalan, Tehsil Shahabad, District Kurukshetra. The counsel, therefore, would argue that in terms of the same notification referred to above, the Tehsildar shall be the competent Registrar for rural areas. Since Ajrana Kalan is a rural area which fall within the Tehsil Shahabad, the 4th respondent is the competent officer.