[HumJanenge] Denied marriage register, RTI applicant to move court

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/vadodara/Denied-marriage-register-RTI-applicant-to-move-court/articleshow/16791383.cms

VADODARA/ANAND: 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.