Govt says birth certificate gives one legal identity
NEW DELHI: A bill seeking to make the provision for delayed registration of births and deaths more stringent, is set to be introduced in the Lok Sabha, and shall require every birth or death reported to the registrar after two years of its occurrence, to be registered on only an order made by a judicial magistrate of the first class.As per the statement of objects and reasons of The Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2026, the proposal to make the law more stringent is based on consultations held with the state/UT govts and other stakeholders and “will encourage timely reporting of events of birth and death”.It added that “the registration of births and deaths is mandatory under the Act and the birth/death certificate issued after such registration, provides legal identity to an individual” and “is admissible as evidence for the purpose of proving the birth and death of a person”.Birth certificate is also the key document for determining a person’s citizenship status. It is one of the documents accepted during the special intensive revision (SIR) electoral roll, as a proof of citizenship. The bill seeks to add sub-section 3A to Section 13, requiring any birth or death intimated to the registrar after two years of occurence, to be registered only on the order of a first-class judicial magistrate, “after verifying the correctness of the birth or death and on payment of such fee as may be prescribed”. The existing Section 13(3) mandates that a birth or death, of which delayed information is shared with the registrar after one year but within two years of its occurrence, will be registered only on order of a district magistrate, sub-divisional magistrate or an executive magistrate authorised by the district magistrate and appointed under Section 14(1) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).The rules to implement Section 13(3A) — including determination of the prescribed fee for delayed registration — may be framed by the state govt, empowered under Section 30 to do so.
