NEW DELHI: The Madhya Pradesh high court has suspended a notary’s licence for preparing a fake marriage registration document, ruling that notaries have no power to act as marriage officers. The court also freed a young woman who said she was threatened into a sham “court marriage,” and allowed her to return to her parents.The bench comprising Justice G.S. Ahluwalia and Justice Anuradha Shukla passed the order on July 13. The case began as a habeas corpus petition filed by Chandrapal Singh Parihar, who claimed the woman — whom he called his “wife” — was being illegally held by her father.What was the dispute about?Chandrapal had approached the court claiming the woman was being illegally detained by her father. But when police from Girwai police station, Gwalior, produced her before the court, she told a very different story, as per the court order.She alleged that Chandrapal, who was her friend, had been pressuring her to marry him. He threatened to upload her photos on Instagram and Facebook if she refused. Her parents tried to step in, but she said fear made her go along with him to the court. There, a lawyer got their signatures on some papers and a register, and told them the marriage was now registered. They then exchanged garlands outside the court. She further added that no Saptapadi (ritual) was ever performed. She wanted to go back to her parents and continue her studies.The sealed case diary given to the court had a notarised document, written in Hindi, describing itself as a deed for registering the marriage. It was notarised by Raghavendra Samadhiya.The court said it was surprised to find such a document in the case diary at all. The state told the court that the woman’s complaint about the threats was being looked into, and that action would be taken under the BNS, the IT Act, or other laws if needed. The court asked police to finish this within ten days.What did the high court say?On the marriage claim, the court said exchanging garlands does not count as a valid marriage. So it rejected Chandrapal’s claim that he had married the woman. Since she wanted to stay with her parents, the court respected her wish, told the police to hand her over to them and also asked that the investigation into Chandrapal’s conduct continue.The high court referred to its own earlier rulings in Lalit Rajak v. State of Madhya Pradesh and Bundel Singh Lodhi v. State of Madhya Pradesh, and a law ministry order from October 2024 that bars notaries from preparing marriage or divorce documents.The court said a notary has no authority to act as a marriage officer. It noted that Raghavendra Samadhiya had acted like a “registration officer” for the marriage and had made the woman believe a court marriage had actually taken place. The court called this a clear example of the notary overstepping his powers.“Since Shri Raghvendra Samadhiya, Notary Public, Datia has exceeded his jurisdiction, thereby spoiling the rights of the persons by registering the so-called marriage, therefore, the licence of Shri Raghvendra Samadhiya to act as a Notary Public Datia shall remain under suspended animation and he shall immediately stop functioning as Notary Public Datia,” the court said.The court issued a notice asking the notary to explain why his licence should not be cancelled. It ordered a separate case to be registered against him and said his licence would remain suspended immediately, meaning he cannot work as a notary until further orders. He was also told to submit his original register. The matter will next be heard on July 28, 2026.
