The Delhi Excessive Courtroom on Wednesday (March 5, 2025) ordered the Centre and Delhi authorities to adjust to the Supreme Courtroom’s instructions over obligatory registration of marriages in three months.

A bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela questioned why the 2006 apex courtroom order mandating all marriages to be registered irrespective of religion, was not but carried out by the authorities.

“That is pathetic really. It’s appalling as to how you aren’t implementing the order of the Supreme Courtroom,” it mentioned.

“We name upon the ministry involved of the Authorities of India and the Delhi Authorities to look into the matter and take applicable steps which might be warranted in legislation and in addition for making certain the instructions issued by the Supreme Courtroom are complied with,” the bench mentioned.

The courtroom additionally issued discover to each governments on a petition in search of course to the Ministry of House Affairs to arrange guidelines for a centralised database of marriage registration.

The Supreme Courtroom, in February 2006, dominated that every one marriages, no matter their faith, be compulsorily registered and directed the Centre and all states to border and notify guidelines for this inside three months.

Pursuant to the highest courtroom’s instructions, the Delhi authorities issued an order on April 21, 2014 containing sure provisions for obligatory registration of marriage. The order is named “Delhi (Obligatory Registration of Marriage) order, 2014.

Petitioner Aakash Goel mentioned within the absence of an applicable laws as desired by the Supreme Courtroom within the 2006 judgment, the mechanism obtainable for registration of marriages was not solely insufficient and brought on hardship to folks in search of registration, but it surely additionally didn’t fulfil the item of obligatory registration of marriages.

When the Delhi authorities counsel mentioned it had framed guidelines consistent with the apex courtroom’s instructions, the bench mentioned the foundations have been solely government in nature.

“There must be an enactment as per the instructions of the Supreme Courtroom… It’s important to reply to the wants of individuals and body guidelines for clean registration of marriage. That’s the necessity of the hour. These will not be the issues which ought to come to the courtroom,” it added.

The plea has sought a course to the Ministry of House Affairs to arrange guidelines for a centralised database of marriage as “dis-aggregate state-wide databases” don’t assist obtain the target of the Supreme Courtroom judgment as an individual can simply marry and register in Delhi, whereas being already married and registered in one other state.

It additionally sought instructions to the Centre to keep up the centralised database and make it obtainable prematurely to residents in order that appropriate whereabouts of households have been identified whereas giving a go-ahead for a marriage.

The petition additionally sought a course for modifying sure clauses of the Delhi Obligatory Registration of Marriages Order, 2014 to permit on-line registration of marriages with the digital presence of a married couple and witness earlier than the authorities involved.