Over the past 24 hours a number of media outlets (here, here and here) have reported that the latest Law Commission report addressing the Centre's proposed amendments to the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 to include compulsory marriage registration has recommended mandatory linking of Aadhaar with marriage registration records. However, these reports are incorrect and do not provide the entire context of the Law Commission's recommendations. In regards to feasibility of IT-enabled registration of marriages, the Law Commission has made two key observations: 7.4 Some States already provide web portals for online registration of marriages, but it would be desirable to have a centralised national portal for maintenance of records such as registration. The Commission is of the opinion that availability of forms and documents in vernacular languages must be ensured to make the said portal easily accessible to all citizens. 7.5 Also, if registration of marriage is linked to the unique identification number (UID), it would be possible to achieve universal tracing of records. So, the linking of Aadhaar with marriage registration is not mandatory, it is an option that the Law Commission feels can be useful in achieving "universal tracing of records". In its actual set of recommendations, the Law Commission doesn't mention Aadhaar at all, but does reiterate the point about the need for automating the marriage registration process, as well as those for birth and death: 8.11 The Law Commission of India is of the opinion that compulsory registration of marriages is a necessary reform and…
