New Delhi: A Bill to amend the law for the registration of births and deaths was introduced in the Lok Sabha Wednesday amid protests by the Opposition, which sought the presence of the PM and the home minister in the House during the debate on the anti-paper leak Bill.
According to procedure, Speaker Om Birla called some Opposition members to oppose the introduction of the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2026. After none spoke, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai introduced the Bill.
The Bill, which was cleared for introduction by the Union Cabinet on July 20, seeks to further amend Section 13(3) of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 (as amended in 2023), “in order to make provisions of delayed registration more stringent”.
Under the current provisions of the Act, registrations delayed by more than one year require an order from the district magistrate (DM), sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), or an executive magistrate before they can be recorded.
The proposed legislation introduces a two-tier approval mechanism based on the duration of the delay.
According to the Bill, the system will largely remain unchanged for births or deaths reported between one and two years after the event. Applicants will continue to require approval from the DM, SDM or an executive magistrate having jurisdiction over the place where the birth or death occurred.
However, registrations delayed beyond two years will face significantly stricter scrutiny. In such cases, approval will be granted only on the orders of a first-class judicial magistrate, shifting the authority for very late registrations from the executive to the judiciary.
