A public interest litigation has been submitted to the High Court seeking binding directives to amend Bangladesh’s standard marriage registration deed—known locally as the Nikahnama—to compel both brides and bridegrooms to declare their full marital history, existing spousal commitments, parental obligations, and verified identity records prior to solemnising a union. Supreme Court advocate Ishrat Hasan lodged the petition at the High Court’s filing section on Tuesday, initiating a legal effort aimed at eliminating matrimonial deception and safeguarding individuals against fraudulent marriages.
The petition demands a thorough revision of Bangladesh Form No. 1601, officially designated as ‘Form Gha’, which regulates Muslim marriage registrations across the country. Under the present legal framework, the document extracts only minimal details regarding a groom’s existing marital status or whether formal permission has been secured from a local arbitration council. Crucially, it imposes no explicit statutory requirement on either party to disclose past marriages, formal divorce proceedings, previous spouses, or offspring from earlier unions. The document similarly lacks a balanced, verifiable mechanism for confirming a bride’s prior marital record. This administrative omission allows dishonest individuals to suppress vital aspects of their background, often resulting in severe post-marital friction, economic abuse, and prolonged litigation over spousal entitlements.
In her legal submission, Advocate Ishrat Hasan contended that the lack of mandatory disclosure directly infringes upon a prospective partner’s fundamental entitlement to give fully informed consent before entering into a binding contract. Suppressing details about ongoing familial or parental duties degrades the maintenance, inheritance, and custody rights belonging to existing spouses and dependent children. To close these administrative loopholes, the writ calls on the High Court to mandate the inclusion of National Identity (NID) card numbers, birth registration records, or valid passport numbers within the revised contract. Furthermore, the petition requests that verifiable documentation concerning active child support commitments, custody arrangements, and legal financial obligations be integrated directly into the official registration record.
The petitioner urges the High Court to issue a rule requiring the relevant administrative bodies to show cause why their persistent failure to update and modernise Form 1601 should not be declared unlawful and without legal authority. The Secretaries of the Law and Justice Division and the Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division within the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, alongside the Inspector General of Registration, have been cited as key respondents in the action.
Advocate Ishrat Hasan confirmed that a High Court bench is scheduled to conduct a preliminary hearing on the petition within the coming week. Should the court rule in favour of the petitioner, the verdict could usher in transformative structural reforms across Bangladesh’s family law administration, enforcing systemic transparency, equal disclosure obligations, and strict legal accountability in marital contracts.
