Now Reading: Karnataka bars Aadhaar as age proof for marriage registration
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Karnataka bars Aadhaar as age proof for marriage registration
The Karnataka Stamps and Registration department has ordered officials not to accept Aadhaar cards as proof of age when registering marriages, following the Supreme Court's 2024 ruling that Aadhaar is not a…
The Karnataka Stamps and Registration department has ordered officials not to accept Aadhaar cards as proof of age when registering marriages, following the Supreme Court's 2024 ruling that Aadhaar is not a valid age document. The circular, issued under the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Karnataka) Rules 2014, mandates birth certificates, school certificates or a medical certificate from a district government hospital instead.
Child rights activists had alleged that parents were altering ages on Aadhaar photocopies or using UIDAI's correction window to circumvent the legal marriage age. Inspector General Mullai Muhilan said Aadhaar is only proof of identity, not age, and the rule is being enforced strictly. In recent cases in Koppal and Raichur, FIRs were registered against parents who made age corrections on Aadhaar that mismatched school and birth records. Former KSCPCR member K.T. Thippeswamy said many such cases go unreported.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The Karnataka rules follow the plain text of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, which defines a child as a male under 21 or a female under 18. Aadhaar was never designed as an age document under UIDAI's 2016 regulations, it is a proof of identity and residence. Birth certificates are issued under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, and school certificates under the state education department's rules. The medical certificate route, requiring a district hospital panel including a psychiatrist, dentist and orthopaedician, is deliberately cumbersome because the Supreme Court in its 2024 judgment on Aadhaar's limitations made clear that approximate age ranges must be resolved in favour of the lower age. The Koppal and Raichur FIRs show enforcement is now active. Child rights bodies across states will watch whether other stamp departments follow Karnataka's circular.
Source: thehindu.com
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
