After running from pillar to post for more than two years after their Anand Karaj marriage, Sikh lawyer couple Amritpal Singh and Satvinder Kaur finally managed to get an Order on 13 December from the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court directing the municipal authorities of Aurangabad -now Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar to issue them a Marriage Certificate under the Anand Marriage Act, 1909. WSN editor Jagmohan Singh speaks to the couple about the lack of knowledge of Sikh marriage customs amongst the bureaucracy, the ordeal they had to undergo, and the insincerity of the Maharashtra state government in framing rules and ensuring implementation of the rules framed under the century-old Act.

Reprimanding the Municipal authorities of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar and their Ward office for harassing the Sikh couple Advocate Amritpal Singh and his wife Advocate Satvinder Kaur who legitimately wanted a marriage certificate under the Anand Marriage Act, 1909, the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court, comprising Justice Ravindra V. Ghuge and Justice Y. G. Khobragade, directed the Aurangabad Municipal authorities to grant the marriage certificate to the couple on 22 December 2023 without even a single day’s extension.

This did not come about easily. Satvinder Kaur, a resident of Aurangabad had to fight in person for herself and her husband and rebuff many a lame argument by the counsels of the Corporation, including Mr. S. S. Tope, Advocate for Respondent the Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar Mahanagarpalika. During the arguments on 12 December, the advocates for the respondents had stated to the extent that, “Even though the petitioners are Sikhs, they are governed by Hindu law.”

Satvinder Kaur had to narrate the details of how the Anand Karaj -the Sikh marriage is solemnized with four circumambulations around Guru Granth Sahib and not the seven rounds around the fire as is the Hindu custom. On the legal side, she also mentioned how these details were mentioned in the Anand Marriage Act and Section 6 of the Rules – Maharashtra Anand Marriages Registration Rules, 2020 framed by the Maharashtra government.

Subsequently, on the day of the final arguments, the respondents accepted that the Anand Marriage Act has been on the statute for more than 100 years, and as such they had no objection to granting the certificate, upon which the judges gave a stern order.

While Sikhs at large are oblivious of their rights, it takes a lawyer couple like Amritpal Singh and Satvinder Kaur to catch the bull by its horns. It is now the turn of Sikhs all across India to seek registration under the Anand Marriage Act, of 1909.

Significantly, even the judges, in a rather jocular manner admitted that they too were not aware of the Anand Marriage Act, of 1909. Not surprisingly because the Sikhs themselves are oblivious of their rights and it takes a lawyer couple like that of Amritpal Singh and Satvinder Kaur to catch the bull by its horns.

In a lighter vein, Justice Ravindra Ghuge, before announcing the order told the Public prosecutors -“Why are you not giving Anand to this couple?”

Satvinder Kaur told WSN that, “We were married on 24 October 2021. Though it is mandatory to get a marriage certificate in three months, accompanied by my father, we got tired of doing the rounds of the Chattrapati Sambhajinagar Mahapalika. We paid umpteen visits and wrote letters and follow-up letters on 1 August 2023 and thereafter on 16 November 2023 but to no avail. The officers were virtually forcing us to take a certificate under the Hindu Marriage Act.”

We had to stand up for our rights and we are grateful to the court for protecting our constitutional rights under Articles 14, 19, 21, and 29 of the Constitution of India.

Advocate Amritpal Singh, petitioner

Advocate Amritpal Singh told WSN, “The state officials did not pay heed to Section 6 (5) of the amendment to the Anand Marriage Act, which said, “The parties to the marriage, whose marriage has been registered under this Act, shall not be required to get their marriage registered under any other law for the time being in force (including State Act).”

“Finally, we stood up for our rights and petitioned to court to which we are grateful for protecting our constitutional right under Articles 14, 19, 21 and 29 of the Constitution of India.”

I thanked the judges for their favourable order not only on behalf of my husband and me but also on behalf of the entire Sikh community. I told them that this order will benefit everyone in Maharashtra.

Advocate Satvinder Kaur, petitioner

Speaking to The World Sikh News, Satvinder Kaur said, “I thanked the judges for their favourable order not only on behalf of my husband and me but also on behalf of the entire Sikh community. I told them that this order would benefit everyone in Maharashtra.”

Given the fact that the lawyer couple had suffered enough unnecessarily, adopting a no-nonsense approach and conscious of the possibility of prevarication by the administration, the judges of the Bombay High Court spelled out a forthright order, saying, “We direct the Corporation to issue a marriage certificate to the Petitioners on 22.12.2023 after completing all the formalities and the Petitioners can collect the marriage certificate at 12.00 noon on 22.12.2023. For the said purpose, the Petitioners would approach the Ward Officer/Zonal Officer of Zone-9 on 19.12.2023 at 11.00 a.m. only to cooperate in completing the required formalities, if not completed. We record that the Ward Officer/Zonal Officer shall ensure that the marriage certificate is issued on 22.12.2023 and we would not grant a single-day extension.”

A happy father of Satvinder Kaur -Manmohan Singh Bindra who laboured hard to get her daughter to become a lawyer and who was with her in thick and thin through this campaign to get a marriage certificate remarked, “I am proud of my daughter. My whole family is happy. I am glad that my daughter has made the community proud.”

The order of the Bombay High Court has come as a relief to the Sikh lawyer couple. More so, it sets a benchmark for many state governments to follow as though the Anand Marriage Act was passed by the British Imperial Privy Council in 1909, then amended on 7 June 2012, by insertion of Section 6 to the Act, it has taken many years for state governments to frame rules thereunder. Even Maharashtra notified them on 23 April 2020. Moreover, even after notification, there is no step taken for implementation of the same by incorporating the provision of Sikh marriage registration under the Anand Marriage Act.

The delay by respective state governments in India to frame rules and then ensure their implementation is not just apathy but also an attempt to dissuade Sikhs from registering their marriages under the Anand Marriage Act, 1909 which categorically describes their distinctiveness from Hindus and others. It is also a reflection of laxity by the Sikhs themselves to seek registration under the Act.

This is not just apathy but also an attempt to dissuade Sikhs from registering their marriages under the Anand Marriage Act, which categorically describes their distinctiveness from Hindus and others.

Upon the request of Amritpal Singh, who appeared through video-conferencing, the judges directed that the said order be sent to all local authorities in the State of Maharashtra. It was mentioned in the order that, “The Registrar (Judicial) to place this order before the Chief Secretary, State of Maharashtra so as to inform all the local authorities that this Act and the Rules thereunder have to be implemented in the appropriate cases of marriages.”

“The Registrar (Judicial) to place this order before the Chief Secretary, State of Maharashtra so as to inform all the local authorities that this Act and the Rules thereunder have to be implemented in the appropriate cases of marriages.”

Justice Ravindra V. Ghuge and Justice Y. G. Khobragade, Bombay High Court

Another aspect of the case deserves attention. This was not the first time that the lawyer couple had to court. Soon after their marriage, they approached the Bombay bench of the Bombay High Court seeking issuance of notification of rules under the Anand Marriage Act, which petition was rendered infructuous when the state submitted that the rules, called Maharashtra Anand Marriages Registration Rules, 2020 were in force. Only after the petition of the lawyer-couple, the government of Maharashtra made the gazette notification of the Rules, public.

Amritpal Singh, who has taken Panthic issues to court on many occasions, told WSN, “It is now the duty of the Sikhs in Maharashtra to register their marriages under the Anand Marriage Act. Sikh Gurdwaras and other institutions also must spread awareness about this.”

It is now the duty of the Sikhs in Maharashtra to register their marriages under the Anand Marriage Act. Sikh Gurdwaras and other institutions also must spread awareness about this.

Mumbai-based Advocate Amritpal Singh, Petitioner

WSN notes here that many states of India have framed rules under the Anand Marriage Act but their implementation has not percolated down to the level of officials who are supposed to issue the marriage certificates.  Sikhs to remember the adage, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”