7. The Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act is hereby amended as follows:-
| (A) in section 18 thereof, by the repeal of sub sections (2) and (3) of that section, and the substitution therefor, of the following subsections:-
| | (2) After the signing of the declarations referred to in subsection (1), the registrar shall enter, in Sinhala or in Tamil, a statement of the particulars of the marriage, in triplicate, that is to say, the original, the second copy (hereinafter referred to as the " duplicate "), and a third copy, in a marriage register, which he is hereby required to keep for that purpose substantially in form IV set out in the First Schedule. The third copy shall bear an endorsement under the hand of the registrar to the effect that it is issued under section 19A. | | |
| | (3) The prescribed fee shall be paid in stamps which shall be supplied by the bridegroom. Such stamps shall be affixed to the duplicate of the entry relating to the marriage and shall be duly cancelled by the registrar. | | |
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| (B) in section 19 thereof, by the repeal of subsection (1) of that section, and the substitution therefor, of the following subsection: -
| | (1) The statement of particulars entered in the register in respect of each marriage shall be signed in the original, the duplicate and the third copy, by-
| | | (b) in every case where the consent of the wali has not been dispensed with under section 47 and is required by the Muslim law governing the sect to which the bride belongs, the wall of the bride; and |
| (c) the person who conducted the Nikah ceremony connected with the marriage; and |
| (d) two witnesses, being persons present at the Nikah ceremony; and |
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| (C) by the insertion, immediately after section 19 thereof, of the following new section which shall have effect as section 19A thereof:
| | 19A. The third copy referred to in the preceding section shall forthwith, free of charge, be delivered or transmitted by post to the female party to the marriage by the registrar. " ; | | |
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| (D) by the repeal of section 29 therefor, and the substitution therefore, of following section:-
| | 29.
| | | (1) The Quazi who is required in accordance with the Second Schedule or Third Schedule to register a divorce shall enter, in Sinhala or in Tamil, a statement of the particulars of the divorce in triplicate, that is to say, the original, the second copy (hereinafter referred to as the" duplicate ") and a third copy, in a divorce register, which he is hereby required to keep for that purpose subs-tantially in form V set out in the First Schedule. The third copy shall bear an endorsement under the hand of the Quazi to the effect that it is issued under section 29 (5). |
| (2) The entries relating to any divorce in the divorce register shall be signed in the original, and in the duplicate and in the third copy by the Quail and by the husband and wife if present at the time the entries are made, |
| (3) The divorces to be registered under subsection (1) in the divorce register shall-
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| (4) The party applying for a divorce shall pay the prescribed fee to the Quazi as soon as the proceedings for the divorce are commenced. The prescribed fee shall be paid in stamps and such stamps shall be affixed to the duplicate of the entries relating to the divorce and shall be duly cancelled by the Quazi. |
| (5) Upon the registration of a divorce the third copy referred to in this section shall forthwith, free of charge, be delivered or transmitted by post to the party applying for the divorce by the Quazi.'; |
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| (E)by the repeal of section 70 thereof and the substitution therefor, of the following section:
| | 70. Every book or register of a Quazi or of a registrar, and every general register, and every copy of every entry in any such book or register and every extract therefrom, certified under the hand of the Registrar-General or a District Registrar or the Secretary to the Board of Quazis or a Quazi or a registrar to be a true copy or extract, and every document referred to in section 69 and every copy of any such document or any entry in any such document certified under the hand of the District Registrar to be a true copy issued under section 19a and section 29 (5) shall be prima facie evidence in all courts of the dates and facts contained or set out in such book, register, general register, copy or extract.'' | | |
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| (F) by the repeal of section 72 thereof and the " substitution therefor, of the following section:
| | 72. Blank books for registers and blank books for all other records required to be kept by Quazis and registrars shall be furnished free of charge by the District Registrar on the application of any Quazi or registrar."; | | |
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| (G) by the repeal if section 76 thereof, and the substitution therefor, of the following section:-
| | 76.
| | | (1) Where the original of any marriage or divorce entry made by a registrar or a Quazi is lost, damaged, has become illegible or is in danger of becoming illegible, the .Registrar-General may. if the duplicate is available, cause the missing document to be replaced by a copy of such duplicate, such copy being certified by the Registrar-General to be a true copy. Every such copy so certified shall replace the original and shall, for all purposes, be deemed to be the original of such entry. |
| (2) Where the duplicate of any marriage or divorce entry made by a registrar or a Quazi is lost, damaged, has become illegible or is in danger of becoming illegible, the Registrar-General may, if the original of such entry is available, cause the missing document to be replaced by a copy of such original, such copy being certified by the registrar or the Quazi to be a true copy and countersigned by the District Registrar Every such copy so certified and counter signed shall, for all purposes, be deemed to be the duplicate of such entry |
| (3) Where both the duplicate and the original of a marriage or divorce entry made by a registrar or a Quazi are lost, damaged, have become illegible, or are in danger of becoming illegible, the provisions of section 13 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to and in relation to the substitution of copies of such duplicate and original. Such copies shall replace the original and duplicate entries and shall, for all purposes, be deemed to be the original and duplicate entries, respectively."; and |
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| (H) in section 97 thereof, by the omission of the definition of the word " duplicate.". |
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Sri Lanka Consolidated Acts