Senior Advocate to Move Supreme Court for implementation of Anand Marriage Act
CHANDIGARH, Punjab (July 12, 2015)—Noted human rights activist and High Court lawyer Advocate Navkiran Singh today lashed out at various states especially Punjab and Delhi for not implementing registration process of Sikh marriages under Anand Marriage Act even after three years of its enactment by the Indian Parliament. Against the non-implementation, he announced to move Supreme Court.
Talking to media person, he said these states and even Chandigarh administration did not set the rules for the implementation of the amended marriage Act for Sikhs which is the discrimination against Sikhs. He lauded the Haryana Govt. for implementation of the amended Act by forming rules for this.
The senior lawyer warned that if Punjab and other states do not frame rules to implement this Act , he would approach the Supreme court and file a PIL seeking legal remedy for the Sikh families.
He said that the Sikhs had been raising voice against the practice of forcing the Sikhs to be governed by laws which were made for the Hindu community in India. “Not only Sikhs, but Jains and Bhudhists have also been forcefully governed by Laws made for the Hindu community. The intention of the framers of constitution may be any, but forcing the Hindu Laws upon these 3 minorities under Article 25 ( Explanation II) has been a matter of great concern at least for the Sikhs”, he said.
He raised question that while Hindu Marriage Act is being forced upon the Sikhs, other minority communities like Muslims, Christians and Parsi’s have their own matrimonial laws. The amendment was made by union government in 2012, by adding section 6 to the said Act and making a provision for registration of marriages performed through Anand Karaj.
After the amendment by the Central Govt, the states had to make their own rules to facilitate registration of the marriages of the Sikhs under this Act. However, on collecting of information under RTI Act by him, it has been found that except for Haryana state which made the rules in 2014, no other state has as yet framed the rules.

SURJIT SINGH SIKH24