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Gujarat High Court

Nidhi W/O Milind Bhatt vs State Of Gujarat on 29 August, 2019

Author: A.Y. Kogje

Bench: A.Y. Kogje

       C/SCA/13130/2019                                           ORDER




    IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD

    R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 13130 of 2019

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                          NIDHI W/O MILIND BHATT
                                   Versus
                             STATE OF GUJARAT
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Appearance:
A R PATEL(7352) for the Petitioner(s) No. 1
MR. ROHAN SHAH, AGP for the Respondent(s) No. 1
MR DIGANT B KAKKAD(6523) for the Respondent(s) No. 2
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CORAM: HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE A.Y. KOGJE

                             Date : 29/08/2019

                               ORAL ORDER

1. This petition is filed under Article-226 of the Constitution of India with a prayer to quash and set aside the communication dated 03-07-2019 by the respondent No.2. The issue pertains to carry out the rectification in the marriage certificate issued to the petitioner.

2. Learned Advocate for the petitioner submitted that on account of the emergence situation about the death in the family, the marriage though scheduled could not be solemnized and was solemnized on the other day. However, as the procedure for registration of marriage was undertaken in advance, the marriage date reflected in the certificate was as per the application, but in fact the marriage had not taken place. Hence, the petitioner filed an application for carrying out the rectification, which came to be rejected.

3. Learned Advocate for the respondent submitted that there is no provision for carrying out the rectification, if such mistake is not committed by the office of the respondent- Registrar.

4. Having considered the rival submissions of both the parties and having perused the documents on record, it appears that the petitioner is living in Junagadh and her marriage was scheduled to take place on 11.12.2017 with Mr. Milind Bhatt who was a Blue Card visa holder of Germany (now, having a Permanent Residence permit of Germany) and is working there as a software engineer. On the very same day, i.e. on 11.12.2017, the pre-marriage ceremony i.e. engagement ceremony as well as the marriage ceremony both were planned. The petitioner states that this type of performing Engagement ceremony as well as marriage ceremony on one and the same day is not uncommon. After the engagement ceremony was performed on 11.12.2017, the bridegroom's grandfather - Mr. Mulshankar Bhatt (aged about 81 years) who was supposed to travel from Surat to Junagadh along with his wife to attend the marriage ceremony, suddenly got sick. The said grandfather - Mr. Mulshankar Bhatt was immediately admitted at Pramukh Swami Hospital, Surat. Therefore, after performing the pre-marriage ceremony / engagement ceremony, it was decided to postpone the marriage ceremony (which was later rescheduled to 27.01.2018). The grandfather - Mr. Mulshankar Bhatt succumbed to his ill health and ultimately expired on 17.12.2017. Not knowing that the marriage ceremony would be postponed and out of anxiety to have the passport with the name and surname of the husband, the petitioner had already prepared an application dated 11.12.2017 for registration of marriage (reflecting the date of marriage as 11.12.2017) and submitted the same to the Respondent No.2-Registrar. Accordingly, the Respondent No. 2 - Registrar issued the Marriage Certificate dated 18.12.2017 showing therein the Page 2 of 4 Downloaded on : Sat Aug 31 00:07:26 IST 2019 C/SCA/13130/2019 ORDER date of marriage as 11.12.2017. The marriage ceremony actually took place on 27.01.2018. Subsequently, to the marriage, the Petitioner applied on 22.02.2018 to the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany, Mumbai ("Consulate General") for obtaining visa of Germany for the purpose of family reunion. The petitioner, in the interview, also informed the aforementioned facts and circumstances to the Consulate General and nothing was suppressed. However, the Consulate General insisted that since the marriage ceremony had in fact taken place on 27.01.2018, the petitioner's marriage certificate should also reflect the same date (i.e. 27.01.2018) as the date of marriage. The Consulate General vide communication dated 18.06.2018 rejected the petitioner's visa application dated 22.02.2018 on the ground that the petitioner's marriage certificate contained wrong information and therefore the same was invalid. On 28.06.2018, the petitioner second time applied for visa to the Consulate General for the purpose of family reunion. However, the same was also rejected by the Consulate General vide communication dated 09.08.2018 on the ground that earlier the petitioner's application was rejected due to false information in the marriage certificate, that the petitioner has applied again with the same documents and therefore, valid marriage is not proven and no legal basis for the intended family reunion. Thereafter, on 20.09.2018, the petitioner got the marriage certificate apostilled (attested) from the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi so as to establish the legality and validity of the marriage certificate.

5. Considering the Rule-7 of the Gujarat Registration of Marriages Rules, 2006, which provides for carrying out the Page 3 of 4 Downloaded on : Sat Aug 31 00:07:26 IST 2019 C/SCA/13130/2019 ORDER rectification of defects in memorandum, nothing in this suggests that the rectification has to be of mistake or defect, which is at the end of office of the Registrar alone. In the facts of the present case, obviously mistake apparent is in the date of marriage reflected in the marriage certificate, which did not reflect the exact date of marriage as on account of incident of death in the family. The marriage was solemnized on another date.

6. In view of the aforesaid facts, it is directed that the application for rectification filed by the petitioner dated 25-06-2019 be treated as an application under Rule-7 of the Gujarat Registration of Marriages Rules, 2006 and a decision be taken with due regard of the evidence produced on record by the petitioner. The above exercise be completed within a period of two weeks from the date of receipt of the order of this Court after affording an opportunity of hearing to the petitioner.

7. With the aforesaid directions, the petition stands dispose of.

Direct service is permitted.

(A.Y. KOGJE, J) PARESH SOMPURA Page 4 of 4 Downloaded on : Sat Aug 31 00:07:26 IST 2019