Karnataka bars Aadhaar as age proof for marriage registration

Karnataka has directed its marriage registration officials to stop accepting Aadhaar cards as proof of age for brides and grooms, tightening enforcement of a rule that already exists under the state's child marriage regulations.

The Department of Stamps and Registration issued a circular instructing officials across the state to rely instead on a birth certificate or a school certificate. Where neither is available, a medical certificate issued by a doctor may be accepted.

The circular states that these documents are the ones specified in Schedule-11 of Rule 6(2) of the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Karnataka) Rules, 2014, framed under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.

Mullai Muhilan, Inspector General of Registration and Commissioner of Stamps, said Aadhaar cannot serve as proof of age, particularly for marriage registration, and that the department is now enforcing the pre-existing rule strictly. Under UIDAI norms, Aadhaar functions only as proof of identity, since it carries address details and biometric information, he said. The Department of Women and Child Development has also held that Aadhaar cannot be treated as age proof for marriage registration.

The move follows cases in which the age recorded on an Aadhaar card did not match the age on a birth certificate, leading to child marriages. Child rights activists have alleged that parents or guardians of brides altered the age on Aadhaar photocopies or through the correction window available under the Unique Identification Authority of India.

K.T. Thippeswamy, a former member of the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, cited recent incidents in Koppal and Raichur where an FIR was registered against the parents of a girl and against a groom for making age-related corrections to an Aadhaar card that conflicted with school and birth records. He said many such cases go unreported and no one is held accountable.

Venkatesh, a member of the commission, said it is rare for both the birth certificate and school certificate to be missing, since most women deliver in hospitals and every child is admitted to school. If a birth certificate is lost, a school certificate should still be available, he said.

Obtaining a medical certificate is not a simple process, he added. Applicants must approach a district government hospital, where a psychiatrist, dentist and orthopaedician assess and record an approximate age before a surgeon signs the certificate. Because the exact age cannot be determined, the certificate may state a range such as 15-16, 16-17 or 17-18 years. Following a Supreme Court order, the lower figure in the range is taken as the age, he said.