Need Help: Appeal for help

[H B SUBRAHMANYAM]

Dear Sir,
I am happy to join your august company. It happened while browsing the internet; it is providential.
I need your help.
Background:
My daughter-in-law had divorced my son.
She tried to blackmail us for money, more and more of that. We didn't succumb to her blackmailing tactics.
She filed cases under CrPC 125 and 498A, and also under Hindu Marriage Act for alimnony and maintenance allowance.
We are fighting the cases in various courts. We are on strong grounds, and there is no need for us to worry about the outcomes.
Now, the issue where I need your help is -
We came to know she is married to sombody else on 27.01.08.
Marriage was performed in Delhi, her parental place.
As it is mandatory in Delhi the marriage must have been registered.
We are not aware of her parental address, and also the office where the marriage was registered.
We want her marriage certificate.
How to make use of RTI to get that.
Your response would help my son, an Army Officer, and I immensely.
Regards
H B Subrahmanyam

[jiwateshwar]

I wonder why you say that you do not have her address, since you are fighting cases against her in court of law, and it is mandatory to have plaintiff's and respondent's address mentioned in a suite. Analyze the following information before I go on,

Delhi has nine districts and 27 Sub Divisions , three per district. The Districts are :-

1. North
2. Central
3. New Delhi
4. East
5. West
6. South
7. North-East
8. North-West
9. South-West

The districts correspond to the Police Districts. Each district is headed by a Deputy Commissioner, who has under him an Additional District Magistrate, Sub Divisional Magistrates, Tehsildars and Sub-Registrar.
At the apex of revenue hierarchy is the Divisional Commissioner who is also the District Magistrate of Delhi and Inspector General of Registration. He is also designated as Secretary (Revenue) and Collector under various Revenue Acts.
Deputy Commissioners, Additional District Magistrates and Sub Divisional Magistrates are conferred with powers as Registrars of Marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act and Special Marriage Act. This power is ordinarily exercised by the Additional District Magistrates who are responsible for registration and solemnization of marriages.

From the above it becomes evident that the marriage could have been registered in any of the given nine districts in Delhi and that too under any of the officers conferred with the powers of Registrar of Marriages. Since the operation does not seem to be centralized, I see little chances of you being able to procure the required information. An application Made at a central point would be easily declined stating that it disproportionately diverts resources. Thus a safer bet shall be to file individual RTI applications in each of the 9 sub-districts with the Deputy Commissioner of that district. The ADM is the usual user of the power to solemnize marriages, however that is not necessary.

Following would be the contents of your RTI application

to Deputy Commissioner
XXX District
Delhi

I would like to obtain the following information
list of marriages solemnized by any of the officers conferred with the powers of registrar of marriage in your district to which any woman with the first name XXX(first name of your ex-daughter in law) has been party. This list should contain full name of both (husband and wife), date of marriage, the place where the marriage took place, and the marital status of both if known before marriage. The above information shall pertain to a period between dates (give a period and keep it as short as possible)

Since the information might not be readily available (unless the thing is computerized) I see little chance of obtaining the information. Do not ask for the copy of marriage certificate yet, as it is most likely to get the whole application declined. Do that later once through another rti application once you have the above list with you. Since the information would not be readily held, I would suggest you to seek inspection of records rather than just copies. However, that depends on your present location and your mobility.

[slchowdhary]

I appreciate Jiwateshwar for taking pains and reply in detail.

[jps50]

My humble suggestion to Shri Hari is that his son should file an application in the same court expressing his doubt about remarriage by the lady at Delhi and seeking court order for asking the lady to file factual position of her remarriage on an affidavit. This will give correct picture of the case. Pl consult the advocate in the case.