Fact-check: No ban on court marriages in Rawalpindi, officials clarify

Multiple social media users in Pakistan are claiming that authorities have imposed a blanket ban on registering court marriages in the Rawalpindi district of Punjab.

However, this claim misrepresents the government’s directives.

Claim

On October 9, a Facebook user claimed that authorities in Rawalpindi had imposed a ban on the registration of court or “love” marriages.

The post alleged that the local government and community development department had prohibited the registration of marriage certificates in district and tehsil courts for couples who married after fleeing from home.

It further claimed that violators would face penalties, including the cancellation of the marriage officiant’s license, dismissal and legal action against government employees, and arrests.

Similar claims had also been shared here and here.

Fact

Government officials confirmed to Geo Fact Check that there is no ban on the registration of court marriages in Rawalpindi. However, they clarified that a marriage solemnised in a court located within a particular union council can only be registered within that same jurisdiction and not in another union council’s area.

Shazia Mumtaz, the deputy director of the local government and community development department, told Geo Fact Check that the matter had been exaggerated following an internal directive issued on October 6. The directive instructed officials to temporarily halt all registrations to address irregularities, not to ban court marriages.

Mumtaz explained that some union councils in Rawalpindi had been issuing marriage certificates without proper documentation and were registering marriages solemnised outside of their jurisdiction.

She added that once the directive was misunderstood by the public, the department issued clarifying instructions on October 9, reaffirming that all births, deaths, marriages, and divorces must be registered within the limits of the respective local government area.

Additionally, Sadiq Satti, the secretary of Union Council 44 in Rawalpindi, confirmed to Geo Fact Check that these directives were meant to ensure proper jurisdictional registration.

“The truth is that the union council under whose jurisdiction the katchery (district court) falls is the only authority that can register the marriages,” Sati explained. “There were many complaints about irregular registrations, and that’s why this directive was issued.”

While Farooq Ahmad Khara, the director administration of the Punjab local government, also confirmed that there is no ban on court marriage registrations in Rawalpindi and the order was just an attempt to control “out of jurisdiction registrations”.

Verdict: There is no restriction on court marriages in Rawalpindi. The recent directive only specifies that marriages solemnised at the district katchery (court) must be registered in the same area of the court, not anywhere else.

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