HC Directs Courts In P'cherry To Pass Orders After Verifying Original Documents

The Madras High Court has directed the lower courts in Puducherry to entertain applications for change in names, age and other details in Marriage Certificates only after verifying the original documents and after conducting an enquiry in the manner prescribed under law. The Civil Courts are bound to conduct an enquiry in such circumstances, if any application is filed seeking rectification of names or otherwise, Justice R Subramanian said while disposing of a writ petition filed in 2013 by a woman, recently.

The writ on hand has been filed to direct the Registrar of Marriages here to issue the marriage certificate 32 of 1969 indicating her name as Gnanalossany Valmy and that of her parents as (father) as Zeganadin Valmy and (mother) as Virammalle Valmy. The petitioner submitted that at the time of marriage, the authority concerned had entered the name of her parents as “Jagannathan Vallmy” and “Anjalatsi Ammal”. She was not conversant with English and did not notice the error. She is a French citizen and the manner in which the names are spelt differs from the English.

Her father is also a French citizen. She sought to apply for citizenship for her daughter and only at that time she noticed the errors and accordingly, sought for rectification. But the Registrar of Marriages here had rejected her plea. Hence the present writ petition. After going through the orders of the lower courts in Puducherry, the judge noticed that they had been passed in favour of the petitioner without verifying the basic documents. The originals were not verified and more specifically, the Civil Court records with reference to the French Civil Code were also not verified before passing the orders.

Such a practice of issuing an order by Courts can never be appreciated. The Courts are bound to conduct an enquiry in such circumstances, if any application is filed seeking rectification of names or otherwise. If such a procedure is followed, there is every possibility of abuse of process of law. Any such rectification of name or otherwise must be done by conducting a proper enquiry and after verifying the original Civil  court records if it is maintained with reference to the French Civil Code, which is enforceable in Puducherry, the neighbouring Union Territory, the judge added.

With PTI Inputs