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Ranchi, Sept. 19: Jharkhand High Court today said that married couples, particularly those living abroad and far-away places, need not appear personally before the sub-registrar to get marriage registration certificates.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Tatia and Justice Jaya Roy observed that the registrar would accept application for the certificate from the person authorised by the couple and collect necessary evidence via videoconferencing.
“The law has to change according to changing circumstances,” the court stated.
The order came as a big relief for UK-based couple Manish and Upasana Bali.
Upasana, an Australian citizen who hails from Ranchi, wanted a marriage certificate to get a passport for her son. She had married Manish, a Swedish citizen, in Ranchi in 2002. Upasana had plans to visit India in November to attend her brother’s marriage.
Problem arose when Manish moved the Swedish authorities to get a passport for his eight-month-old son, as he was asked to produce his marriage certificate. The couple landed in a fix, as they couldn’t have left their child alone in the UK to appear before the marriage authorities in Ranchi to file application for the certificate.
They authorised Nandita Gupta, Upasana’s mother, to present the application to the registrar for a certificate.
The couple had challenged the legal validity of Section 4 of Jharkhand marriage registration rules, according to which the couple has to appear in person to file the application.
“The court did not declare the rule ultra vires, but found a way out,” said Upasana’s lawyer Pandey Neeraj Rai.
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