Writ seeks amendment to ‘kabinnama’ to prevent marriage fraud
A writ petition has been filed with the High Court seeking directions to make it mandatory to include information about the previous and existing marriages, children and government identity documents of both the bride and groom in the kabinnama (marriage registration form) to prevent concealment of information and fraud in marriage.
Supreme Court lawyer Ishrat Hasan filed the writ petition in the public interest on Tuesday (August 25).
The Secretary of the Law and Justice Division, the Secretary of the Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division, and the Inspector General of Registration (IGR) have been made respondents in the writ petition.
The petition states that the kabinnama currently in use, Bangladesh Form No. 1601 (Form ‘G’), does not have an effective mechanism for equally disclosing or verifying information about the previous and existing marriages of both the bride and groom, former husbands or wives, marriage and divorce registration records, children, and ongoing legal responsibilities, including maintenance and guardianship arising from previous relationships.
Although the existing kabinnama seeks some information regarding the groom’s existing wife and permission from the arbitration council, there is no requirement to provide comprehensive information about all his previous marriages, divorces, former wives and children.
Similarly, the existing form lacks an equal mechanism for verifying the bride’s previous marital history.
The petition further states that the opportunity to remarry by concealing such important information is resulting in numerous cases of fraud and complicated family disputes in society. As a result, individuals are being deprived of their fundamental right to make free and fully informed decisions when making an important decision such as marriage.
At the same time, the legal and social rights of previous or existing husbands, wives and children are significantly affected.
The writ petition seeks directions to amend the kabinnama so that complete information about the previous and existing marriages of both the bride and groom can be included and verified.
It also seeks the inclusion of details of children born from previous or existing marriages, as well as ongoing maintenance, guardianship and other legal responsibilities arising from previous marital relationships.
The petition also seeks provisions for including and verifying government identity documents, including birth registration certificates, National Identity Cards (regular or smart cards) or passport numbers.
The petition asks the High Court to issue a rule seeking to declare why the respondents’ inaction in updating the kabinnama form by incorporating these necessary pieces of information should not be declared without lawful authority and why directions should not be issued to amend the form to ensure citizens’ comfortable and secure family life.
The lawyer said the writ petition may be heard by a High Court bench soon.