The Allahabad High Court has directed Uttar Pradesh to stop issuing marriage registration certificates based solely on Aadhaar age records, ruling that the national ID does not by itself prove a person’s age and requiring verified proof that both parties have reached the legal minimum age to marry.
Justice Tej Pratap Tiwari issued nine statewide directions in an order dated October 9 in Deepak Pal vs. State of U.P. and 3 others, a criminal appeal. An Assistant Inspector General of Registration told the court in an affidavit that the marriage at issue was registered using a school transfer certificate and an Aadhaar card, without the date of birth being verified.
The court held that an Aadhaar card does not make the date of birth recorded in it conclusive or authoritative proof of age, and that a transfer certificate is not among the documents listed for age determination in Section 94(2)(i) of the Juvenile Justice Act. Uttar Pradesh’s Planning Department stopped accepting Aadhaar as proof of date of birth last November, citing the Unique Identification Authority of India’s position that the date recorded in Aadhaar is not, by itself, a verified birth record.
Under the order, the state must prescribe a clear hierarchy of age records, with birth certificates issued under births and deaths registration law and matriculation or equivalent records considered first. Where two authoritative records show different dates of birth, the application must be flagged rather than accepted automatically, and the registering officer must check the records with the issuing authorities and record brief reasons for the date relied upon.
The online marriage registration system must record the source used to verify each party’s date of birth and stop applications from proceeding while age is unverified or a discrepancy is flagged. As far as technically feasible, the portal must block automatic certificate generation until mandatory verification is complete.
No marriage may be registered where the groom is under 21 or the bride is under 18 on the date of the application. Applications that show, or raise reasonable doubt about, underage status must be referred to the Child Marriage Prohibition Officer and the District Magistrate rather than processed routinely.
The Principal Secretary of the Stamp and Registration Department must ensure a standard operating procedure covers conflicting, doubtful or unavailable documents, and the Inspector General of Registration must run statewide training for registration officers. Secretaries of each District Legal Services Authority will inspect marriage registration offices every two months and review age-verification records, reporting to district judges.
The directions apply until the Uttar Pradesh Marriage Registration Rules, 2017 are amended or a comprehensive statutory procedure is issued. The court has listed the matter for November 27 for compliance reports.
Sources: LiveLaw, The Pioneer, LawChakra
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
