According to Portuguese law prevalent in Goa, Christian and Muslim brides were not permitted to change their names in the marriage certificate. A new notification will now make this permissible, doing away with the cumbersome process of getting their surnames changed.
According to the prevailing pre-liberation system (as per the Portuguese law), Christian and Muslim brides were not permitted to change their names in the marriage certificate issued by the Civil Registrar. This is now about to change with a new notification.
According to the Times of India, Power Minister, Nilesh Cabral, who earlier held the Law ministry portfolio, has said these brides will now be given the option of doing so.
“The notification will be issued soon and it will be left to the women of Goa to decide whether they want to incorporate their husband’s names.”
The notification was issued during Cabral’s tenure as Law Minister. Although he no longer holds the law portfolio, he said he will extend all help to the new Law Minister Vishwajit Rane, to implement the same.
According to Portuguese law – the system existing since pre-liberation – only gave Hind brides the option of adopting their husband’s name in their marriage certificate, while Christian and Muslim brides who adopted their husband’s surnames had to do so later.
According to this source, this move comes as a welcome relief for Christian and Muslim brides as it will eliminate the cumbersome process followed to change their names, which involves the presentation of documents at several offices and later notifying the said documents in the Gazette.
According to one official from the department, once the notification is issued, it will be a boon for married Christian and Muslim brides who will be able to correct their names officially on their marriage certificates.
He also pointed out that another flaw in the existing Portuguese law or pre-liberation system will also be corrected. “Earlier the child born would automatically take the mother’s name with the father’s surname even if she had not incorporated the husband’s surname into her own. This will also be sorted out,” he stated.
Source: TOI
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