Former Nongkrem legislator, Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit has expressed his displeasure over the proposed amendment to the Meghalaya Compulsory Registration of Marriage Act 2012.
In a letter addressed to PK Aghahari Agrahari, Inspector General of Registration, Basaiawmoit stated that his attention has been drawn to the intention of the government to bring a second amendment to the Meghalaya Compulsory Registration of Marriage Act 2012 whereby the proposed amendment sought to delete Section 2 (j), which defines the term “Official Purposes”, and also to delete the portion mention in the preamble of the principal act, which says that, “Whereas further it is mandatory for married man and married woman to compulsorily furnish a marriage certificate for all official purposes;”
“In this connection, I would like to mention that the said proposed amendment is only a sheer attempt to weaken this act and to make it completely redundant and ineffective,” the former MLA and ex-KHADC Chief Executive Member said.
According to Basaiawmoit, even the first amendment which was brought to define the meaning of “Official Purposes” by way of inserting a new clause (j) in section 2 was not sufficient and should have been more comprehensive.
In the letter, he stated that the very purpose of this law is to prevent child marriages, check bigamy or polygamy, help women to exercise their rights of maintenance. “However, this proposed amendment would defeat the very purpose of this piece of legislation,” Basaiawmoit pointed out.