Not every Tom, Dick and Harry should be allowed to officiate Nikah: Rajasthan High Court

The Rajasthan High Court recently suggested that district authorities in each city should maintain a registry of individuals authorized to perform Nikah (Muslim marriage) ceremonies [Adnan Ali & Ors. v State of Rajasthan & Anr.].Only those listed in such official records should be eligible to officiate Nikahs, added Justice Farjand Ali."This Court is of the perspective that District Magistrate/ District Collector of each city should keep a record of the persons who can perform Nikah-Nama and they should be enlisted in a separate file; only those people shall be eligible to perform the ceremony of Nikah; not every Tom, Dick & Harry,” the Court said in its November 22 order..Each city should keep a record of persons who can perform Nikah. Only those people shall be eligible, not every Tom, Dick and Harry.Rajasthan High Court.The Court also suggested that measures could be taken so that Nikah certificates are made available in Hindi or English as well. "If the printed proforma of Nikah Nama does contain Hindi or English language then it may resolve the complexities," it said. .The Court made these observations after finding that a document submitted to prove a nikah between two parties before the Court was in Urdu, making it difficult for the judge to verify its contents.In response, the State counsel assured that these matters would be discussed with senior officials of the State's Department of Minority Affairs.The Court recorded their submission and asked the Secretary of the Minority Affairs Department to be present for the next hearing of the case on December 10..The Court was dealing with a petition that challenged the registration of a criminal case against three persons. While reviewing the case file, the Court noted that the petitioners had relied on a Nikah-Nama (Muslim marriage certificate) written in Urdu. The Court pointed out that without knowledge of the language, the document was difficult to understand.It proceeded to observe that the Nikah-Nama is an important document that can serve as evidence to support the claims of marriage. Therefore, its content must be comprehensible to government officials as well.“When the content of (Nikah) certificate is not understandable to employees of Government institution, public institution, private institution and several other departments etc., it creates problem ... the same may increase complexities ... Therefore, this Court feels that the situation above is required to be regulated," it said. .The Court added that marriage, being a sacrosanct and significant institution, must be documented in a manner that ensures clarity and accessibility. It observed that although a Nikah-Nama in an obscure language is valid under religious law, it would create challenges for public and government institutions while verifying its authenticity. “This kind of sacred relationship should be recognized by a document which is unambiguous, vividly clear, explicit and transparent,” the Court said. .The Court has directed the State counsel to discuss these issues with senior officers from the Department of Minority Affairs and report the outcome to the Court by the next hearing. The Court also granted interim protection to the petitioners, restraining the police from making any arrests related to the impugned FIR..Advocates MA Siddiqui, Sikander Khan and Majhar Hussain appeared for the petitioners.Additional Advocate General BL Bhati, Advocate Deepak Chandak and Deputy Government Advocate Vikram Singh Rajpurohit appeared for the State..[Read order]