The Maharashtra Government has given legal recognition to the Anand Marriage Act of the Sikh community. Instructions have been issued to implement the Anand Marriage Act across the state. The Sikh community has welcomed this decision.
Government issues orders to departmental commissioners
This directive recognizes the Sikh marriage rituals in the state and makes the registration of Sikh marriages easier. The Minority Development Department of the Maharashtra Government has issued official instructions to all the departmental commissioners of the state regarding the implementation of the act. The Maharashtra State Punjabi Sahitya Akademi and the 11-member Sikh Coordination Committee had submitted a memorandum to the Secretary of the Minority Development Department, Ruchesh Jaivanshi on February 6, 2025. The acting president of the academy, Bal Malkit Singh, and the convener of the coordination committee, Jaspal Singh Sidhu, have thanked Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. They said that this is a historic achievement for the Sikh community of Maharashtra.
This decision will make the Sikh marriage registration process simple and respectable. Now civil bodies will not need to apply separately. This decision is an important step in protecting the rights of minorities.
What is the Anand Marriage Act?
According to the tradition, the ‘Anand’ ceremony is performed for marriage in Sikhism. This ceremony was started by the third Guru of Sikhism, Guru Amardas Ji. Guru Amardas Ji composed the 40-stave long Bani Anand. It is sung during all occasions of religious importance and marriage ceremonies. The government has also made a separate law and recognized the Anand Marriage Act.
The Anand Marriage Act was first implemented in 1909 during the British period. But for some reason, this act could not be implemented at that time. In 2007, when the Supreme Court made marriage registration mandatory for all religions, the Sikh community also raised the demand for the implementation of the Anand Marriage Act. Earlier, the marriages of people of the Sikh community were registered under the Hindu Marriage Act.
The Anand Marriage Act has been amended many times in the past. On 7 June 2012, both the Houses passed the Anand Marriage Amendment Bill 2012 amending the Anand Marriage Act 1909. Under this Act, registration of Anand will be mandatory to validate Sikh traditional marriages. Currently, this Anand Marriage Act is implemented in 22 states of India.
How is the Anand Marriage Act different from other marriages?
The special thing about the Anand Marriage Act is that couples getting married under it do not need to get registration under any other law for birth, marriage and death.