Karnataka High Court stays state government order authorising Waqf board to issue marriage certificate

Bengaluru: In an interim order, the Karnataka High Court on Thursday kept in abeyance until January 7, 2025, the government order that permits the Karnataka State Board of Auqaf to issue marriage certificates to Muslim applicants.

The order was passed by a division bench comprising Chief Justice NV Anjaria and Justice K V Aravind on a PIL petition.

"In view of the strong prima facie case, the impugned order dated August 30, 2023, authorising the state board of waqf and waqf officers to issue marriage certificates shall remain in abeyance till the next date. The waqf board or waqf officers shall not issue marriage certificates under the guise of the said order till the next date. It is difficult to perceive that marriage certificates issued by the waqf board or its officers which are without authority could be used as valid certificates for any official purpose," the bench said.

The petitioner A Alam Pasha, a Bengaluru-based social activist, had challenged the August 30, 2023, notification issued by the Minorities Welfare, Wakfs and Haj Department in continuance of the earlier notification issued on February 21, 2023, conferring power upon the Wakf Board to issue marriage certificates to applicants from the Muslim community.

The petition stated that the entire power and functions of the wakf board are defined under Section 32 of the Waqf Act and the power to register a Muslim marriage cannot flow from this provision.

According to the petitioner, a bare perusal of the Waqf Act makes it clear that wakf boards do not have the statutory power, mandate or authority to register a Muslim marriage. It was also stated that several high courts already held that the registration of marriage by wakf boards is beyond the scope of power conferred under the Waqf Act.

The petitioner further stated that the sanctity of marriage is not dependent upon its registration. "A valid marriage as per personal laws of the parties remains valid, irrespective of whether the marriage was registered or not. It is important to note that whenever any law prescribes for registration of marriage in India, they usually come with a caveat that non-registration does not lead to invalidation of the marriage," the petition said.