Fact-check: Tax dodgers, absconders cannot tie the knot under Pakistan's new marriage registration system?

Multiple Facebook and Twitter posts claim that Pakistan will be rolling out a new marriage registration system, after abolishing the old one, and under the new system an absconder or those guilty of tax evasion will not be able to get married.

The claim is false.

Claim

The title of a Facebook post published on January 26 alleged that a new system for registering marriages was being introduced across the country.

As per the post, under the new system, the person, who registers the nikah (marriage), will be provided an exclusive online tab to verify the information before registering a marriage.

“If the groom is an absconder or a tax thief the groom will be arrested on the spot with the help of the local police,” the Facebook post added, “Since now the tab will be linked to NADRA.”

This post has received 71 likes and has been shared 20 times, to date.

Another Facebook post shared a clip from an episode of the morning show of ARY News, aired last year, where the hosts talk about Pakistan planning to digitise the marriage registration system.

Also in the video, the host says: “If the groom is an absconder or a tax dodger then his wedding will be cancelled and he will be arrested immediately.”

Fact

No, it is not true that the new marriage registration system in the country will stop absconders and tax evaders from getting married, officials in three provinces confirmed to Geo Fact Check.

“Our department is not aware of any such changes being made,” Javed Iqbal, the director general in the local government and community development department in Punjab, told Geo Fact Check over the phone. “This news is baseless.”

Iqbal added that all Muslim marriages in the country are registered under the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961. “And there is nothing like this in the law,” he said.

Marriage certificates are registered at the union council level. These union councils come directly under the local government departments in each province.

Usman Mehsud, the director general of the local government and rural development department in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, also agreed with Iqbal.

“This is wrong, totally wrong,” he said, over the phone, “There is nothing like this.”

While Najam Ahmed Shah, the secretary of the local government department in Sindh, replied via WhatsApp: “We have not done any change.”

To further verify the information, Geo Fact Check also reached out to Jamila, an advocate in Lahore, who provides marriage registration services. She confirmed that there is no such notification or change that prevents absconders and those accused of tax evasion from getting married.

However, it is true that the government is considering rolling out a new system that would digitise the marriage registration system in the country.

Follow us on @GeoFactCheck. If our readers detect any errors, we encourage them to contact us at [email protected]