MANDEEP KAUR Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Learned counsel for the petitioners has produced Air tickets of Gurdeep Singh which shows that he has to board the plane on 17.04.2013 for the flight from Delhi to Kuala Lumpur on the Malaysia Airlines. Therefore, there is urgency in the matter. Download of the tickets produced are taken on record as Mark 'A'. The prayer made by the petitioners in the instant petition is that a direction be issued to the Naib Tehsildar cum Marriage Registrar, Malerkotla, District Sangrur-respondent No. 3 to register their marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. The marriage of petitioners was solemnized on 08.03.2006 and since the respondents had refused to register the same, they have filed the instant petition with the aforesaid prayer. The reason for refusing registration of the marriage of the petitioners was that petitioner no. 2 was less than 21 years of age on the date of marriage.

(2.) In view of the nature of the order proposed to be passed, there may be no necessity for calling response from the State.

(3.) The facts of the case reveal that petitioner No. 2 at the time of making of the application had acquired the statutory age of marriage and even on the date of marriage he was barely short of the requisite age. The Supreme Court in the case Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, 2006 1 RCR(Cri) 963 has issued comprehensive directions to all the States and the Central Government to take necessary steps for making registration of the marriages of persons belonging to all religions as a compulsory step. For the purposes of reference relevant portion of the judgment is extracted as under:-