Title: Kerala shelves
Christian divorce bill after uproar
Author: Suchandana Gupta
Publication: The Telegraph
Date: January 5, 200
The Left front government
in Kerala has shelved a divorce Bill amendment with parallels to a uniform
civil code after the move threatened to pit the state against the church.
The amendment to the
Indian Divorce Act was intended at deleting a provision which said every
decree for dissolution of a Christian marriage by a district judge has
to be confirmed by the high court. The rule, which does not apply to Hindu
or Muslim marriages, delays legalising a Christian divorce by three to
five years.
The E.K. Nayanar government,
keen to shed its anti-church image created by a series of clashes involving
organisations affiliated to the CPM, had lined up the Bill as a Christmas
gift.
Christians account for
over 23 per cent of the population in Kerala and nearly 5,000 divorce cases
of the community are pending before courts now. Two high court rulings
had also suggested that the divorce Act be amended.
Besides, the state government
was in a hurry to upstage the BJP-led Centre which, too, was planning a
similar Bill and had started sounding Christian bodies. Hence, the state
introduced the Indian Divorce Kerala Amendment Bill in the Assembly on
December 16, a week before Christmas.
However, as the church
- which exhorts that "let no man separate what God has united" - and a
section of the powerful Christian political lobby, turned restive, the
government referred the amendment to a select committee. This effectively
puts the Bill on the backburner.
The Bill was welcomed
by majority of the Christian MLAs, but objections were raised by a group
of Roman Catholic members. Prominent among the critics was K.M. Mani, a
former minister and now leader of the Kerala Congress (Mani) faction, a
constituent in the state's Congress-led opposition front.
Mani made a sweeping
suggestion to legalise the Christian Canon Law and demanded that the Christian
Ecclesiastical Court's verdict be regarded as a ground for divorce, along
with impotency, consanguinity, lunacy and forceful marriage mentioned in
the Act.
"We have no objection
to the amendment. Our concern is only to make the amendment more comprehensive
so that it does not conflict with Canon laws," Mani told The Telegraph.
The differences of opinion
between the Roman Catholic church and the civil courts on divorce are glaring.
"The Catholic church
never permits a divorce or remarriage. The Ecclesiastical Court can only
declare an annulment of marriage on grave grounds. The government's main
consideration is divorce, the very concept of which is opposed by the Church,"
according Father C. Joseph, the head of the Ecclesiastical Court here.
The ratio of annulments
declared by the Ecclesiastical Courts is one in a thousand cases brought
to the Church.
When a civil court grants
a divorce, it is not recognised by the Catholic church. "Throughout the
world, the Catholic principle is the same," explained auxiliary Bishop
Joshua Mar Ignatheus.
"Divorce granted by civil
authorities are not accepted by the church. A remarriage of such couples
in the Catholic church is out of question." The marriage is unaccepted
and the wards of such a couple are "not Christians".
Conversely, civil courts
do not accept the verdict of the church. An marriage annulled by a religious
court is an illegal divorce in the eyes of civil law.
Mani's suggestion is
to include a fourth clause with an additional ground "that the marriage
has been declared null and void under the provisions of the Christian church
or in accordance with the rules and regulations of the church to which
the parties belong."
However, other Roman
Catholic MLAs differed. P. C. George of the Kerala Congress (Joseph) faction,
a constituent of the ruling front, said if Mani's demand is conceded, Catholics
will have no option but to go to the church court for annulment.
"Christians will wholeheartedly
accept the amendment. How can Mani being a responsible political figure
even ask for legalising Canon Laws? Next someone will ask for Shariat and
then the Upanishads. Whenever there is a conflict between Canon Law and
civil law, the civil law takes over," George added.
The church does not agree.
"The country certainly has the right to totally control my activities,
but only those which affect the external forum of man. The case is different
when it concerns my conscience, my internal forum. A marriage for us is
like baptism. It binds two people in the presence of Christ. It is eternal,"
Father Joseph said.
Having burnt its fingers,
the state is now waiting for the Centre to move a comprehensive amendment.