The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the registration of marriages of members of the Christian community.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar announced this judgment in a case pertaining to registration of Christian marriages.
The court directed all the union councils to ensure registration of marriages of Christians and ordered the National Database Regulatory Authority (Nadra) to issue them a computerised marriage certificate.
The court directed the Punjab government to enact a proper legislation in this regard.
The bench had earlier in Sept, 2018 reserved the verdict after lawyers representing the petitioners and respondents concluded their arguments.
During the course of the hearing, the chief justice remarked that the person who registered marriages of Muslims should also register marriages of Christians.
A representative of the Christian community regretted that the union councils were the competent authority to register births, deaths and marriages, but they didn’t register marriages of members of the Christian community.
To which, the bench observed that a person in a union council could be assigned with the duty of registration of marriages.
“The government should facilitate the masses,” the chief justice observed, recalling that the apex court had earlier passed the verdict that a member of the Christian community should be called and written as “Masihi” instead of “Esai.”
“The court will have its verdict implemented in letter and spirit,” he asserted.
