The Assam government has introduced a bill to repeal a law that regulated the registration of Muslim marriages and divorces, stating concerns that it has scope to allow marriages of minors from the community.

Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Jogen Mohan presented The Assam Repealing Bill, 2024 to the Assembly Thursday, seeking to abolish both The Assam Moslem Marriages and Divorces Registration Act, 1935 and the Assam Repealing Ordinance 2024.

“There remains a scope of registering marriages of intended person below 21 years (in case of male) and 18 years (in case of female),” he said in the Statement of Object and Reasons of the Repealing Bill.

It hardly had any provisions for monitoring the implementation of the Act throughout the state and it attracted huge amounts of litigation in the court, he added.

“There is a scope of misuse by both authorised licensee (Muslim marriage Registrars) as well as by citizens for underage/minor marriages and forcefully arranged marriages without the consent of the parties,” Mohan said.

He also pointed out that since the registration of marriages and divorces were not mandatory, and the registration mechanism was informal, it left a lot of scope for non-compliance of the norms.

“It is a pre-independence Act adopted by British India Government for the then Province of Assam for Muslim religious and social arrangements,” the minister said.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma Wednesday said that the government plans to introduce a new bill, the Assam Compulsory Registration of Muslim Marriage and Divorce Bill, 2024, during the ongoing Autumn Session. This new legislation aims to mandate government registration for Muslim marriages and divorces.

Last month, the Cabinet had approved the Repealing Bill to abolish the Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorce Registration Act and Rules of 1935, which permitted underage marriages under specific conditions.

Opposition parties have criticised the move as discriminatory and politically motivated, alleging that it seeks to polarise voters ahead of elections.