A Congress MP urged the government to introduce a law to limit the number of guests at weddings as well as to restrict the number of food items on the menu
Representational image. Pixabay.
A Congress MP on Wednesday urged the government to introduce a “Pakistan-like” law to limit the number of guests at weddings as well as to restrict the number of food items in the menu.
Jasbir Singh Gill, a Congress MP from Khadoor Sahib in Punjab, suggested that the number of guests be limited to 50 each from the bride and groom’s side.
Addressing the Lok Sabha during the zero hour, Gill said Pakistan and Afghanistan already had such laws in place.
“Today I stand here to talk about a great social evil. There will be no expenditure of the government on this, and all of us who are sitting here and the government will get blessings from the people,” Gill said.
Showing a menu, Gill told the Lok Sabha that there were 289 food items and it cost Rs 2,500.
He suggested that the menu shouldn’t have more than 11 dishes.
Let’s take a look at what is the Pakistan law that Gill talked about and if there is any precedent to this in India:
What is the Pakistan law against exuberant weddings
The Supreme Court of Pakistan in 2015 said in an order that restricted dishes at weddings to only one while also banning unnecessary decorations and ban on fireworks.
According to a report by Dawn, the court stated that only one main dish would be allowed at wedding ceremonies. Guests may be served one curry, rice, nan, one type of salad and yogurt.
Fireworks and ‘display of dowry’ is also banned in Islamabad. Violation of the law is punishable by imprisonment for up to one month and a fine of up to 20 lakh Pakistani rupees.
Interestingly, the now-embattled Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, held a modest wedding ceremony by inviting a limited number of guests in January 2015.
As per a report by The Express Tribune, Khan also sent meals for students at the SOS Children’s Village and another orphanage.
He also asked people who wanted to send him gifts to instead send donations to the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital being built in Pesahwar.
In another high-profile wedding, Tennis player Sania Mirza who married Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik had served only one dish at the their wedding ceremony.
Indian precedent to curb extravagant weddings
In 2017, Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan placed a bill in the Lok Sabha seeking to put a limit on the number of guests to be invited and dishes to be served in weddings to check “show of wealth”.
As per The Marriages (Compulsory Registration and Prevention of Wasteful Expenditure) Bill, 2016, those spending above Rs 5 lakh should contribute towards marriages of poor girls.
“if any family intends to spend more than Rs 5 lakh towards expenditure on marriage, such family shall declare the amount proposed to be spent in advance to the appropriate government and contribute 10 per cent of such amount in a welfare fund which shall be established by the appropriate government to assist the poor and Below Poverty Line families for the marriage of their daughters,” it said.
There have been at least 10 such bills tabled in the Parliament, but none of them have been passed.
With inputs from agencies
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