Denied marriage register, RTI applicant to move court

The Times of India: VADODARA/ANAND: Saturday, October 13, 2012.

An RTI applicant has threatened to move court after he was denied access to the marriage register book by the Christian clergy in Anand district.

RTI applicant Victor Macwan, who belongs to the Christian community, has alleged that the book in which Catholic marriages is registered by the Christian clergy in Gujarat is being kept as a closely guarded secret.

Macwan had made a search application under Section 63 of the Indian Christian Marriage Act (ICMA) 1872 with RTI application seeking details of the marriage-register-book which was denied by Father Tony, the parish priest of Catholic Church in Mariampura at Petlad in Anand district.

"Under ICMA 1872, the priest is the registrar of marriage. Hence, he is governed by the same act and consequently under Sections 2 (f), 2 (h) and 8 (j) of the Right to Information Act 2005. Therefore, information generated regarding the solemnizing and registration of marriages and information connected therewith comes under the purview of public domain, and information generated with public funds. But, I was refused the search of marriage register and also details of the declaration of 17 proactive disclosures required under Section 4 of the RTI Act," says Macwan.

Macwan says he had sought details of all the marriages that were solemnized by the church between 1975 and 1985.

As per the applicant, Section 63 of ICMA 1872 states: "Every person licensed under this Act to grant certificates of marriages, and keeping a marriage-register-book under Section 62 shall, at all reasonable times, allow search to be made in such book, and shall, on payment of the proper fee, give a copy, certified under his hand, of any entry therein."

Father Tony, however, told TOI that the applicant was denied information as the details sought was concerning a third party. "We cannot show details related to a third party to any such applicant," he said, claiming that the marriage-register-book, which the applicant wanted to access does not come under the purview of the RTI Act.

When contacted by TOI, Bishop Thomas Macwan refused to comment on the issue. "It will not be proper for me to make any kind of comment about the application," he said.