The Supreme Court on Friday refused to accept the certificate issued by the Arya Samaj as proof of marriage and said it is not the sect’s job but the authorities to issue such a certificate.
A vacation bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and BV Nagarathna was hearing a plea by a man who has been granted bail by the Rajasthan High Court in a rape case. The youth has been accused of raping a minor girl.
The counsel for the petitioner argued that the accused in the rape case was a minor, married to the accused. The lawyer said that the marriage took place in Arya Samaj.
However, the bench observed that it is not the job of the society to issue a marriage certificate and asked the petitioner to produce a certificate issued by the authorities instead.
The bench also refused to interfere with the order of the Rajasthan High Court denying him bail.
“We have heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and found no reason to interfere with the impugned order at this stage. However, after the charges are framed, the petitioner is free to renew his application for bail before the trial court ,” the bench said in its order.
The development comes amid a pending petition in the SC of Madhya Bharat Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, the nodal body of Arya Samaj temples in Madhya Pradesh, challenging the December 17, 2021 order of the HC’s Division Bench, which had held it to annul the marriage. has been instructed to do. As per the Special Marriage Act, 1954.
The HC order states that no one except the authority competent under the Act, 1954 can issue a certificate in such a marriage.
Upholding the single judge’s decision, the HC also asked the society to amend the August 2016 guidelines by incorporating the provisions of Sections 5. 6. 7. and 8 of the Special Act.
In its guidelines dated August 2016, the Sabha had asked all its affiliated Arya Samaj temples to follow the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 while performing marriages.