NRI HUSBANDS MUST REGISTER THEIR MARRIAGE WITHIN WEEK

An inter-ministerial panel decided on Wednesday that non-resident Indian men who wed in the country will have to compulsorily register their marriage within a week and update their marital status on their passport, in an attempt to stop NRI husbands from deserting their wives, four officials familiar with the development said.

The panel was set up last year to review the legal and regulatory challenges faced by women deserted by NRI husbands.

It comprises external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, home minister Rajnath Singh, law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and women and child development (WCD) minister Maneka Gandhi. The panel also decided that fai- ling to update marital status on the passport can result in the document getting revoked, one of the four officials said.

“The group of ministers decided that necessary amendments will have to be made in the Passport Act to incorporate the changes,” the official added.

The panel also agreed to make it mandatory to register all NRI marriages with registrars. “The law ministry has agreed to incorporate the necessary clause by amending the Registration of Bir- ths and Deaths Act, 1969,” a seco- nd official said.