Delegated rule-making cannot replace the statutory Magistrate requirement for delayed birth and death registration under the parent Act.

Section 13(3) of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 requires delayed registration of a birth or death, after one year, only on an order of a Magistrate of the First Class or a Presidency Magistrate following verification of correctness. The Karnataka amendment to Rule 9 substituted an Assistant Commissioner for that statutory judicial authority, thereby changing the mechanism fixed by the Act. Because delegated rule-making under Section 30 must remain within the parent enactment and cannot contradict a mandatory statutory provision, the amendment was treated as inconsistent with the Act and therefore ultra vires, illegal, and void.

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Issues: Whether the Karnataka Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Rules, 2022, amending Rule 9 of the Karnataka Registration of Births and Deaths Rules, 1999, is ultra vires the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969.

Analysis: Section 13(3) of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 mandates that a birth or death not registered within one year of its occurrence can be registered only on an order made by a Magistrate of the First Class or a Presidency Magistrate after verification of its correctness. Section 30 of the Act enables the State Government to make rules only to carry out the purposes of the Act, and the rule-making power cannot travel beyond the parent enactment. The amendment substituted the Magistrate with an Assistant Commissioner (Sub-Divisional Magistrate), thereby altering the statutory mechanism and transferring the function away from the judicial authority identified in the Act. A delegated rule cannot supplant or contradict a mandatory provision of the enabling statute.

Conclusion: The amendment rule was held to be inconsistent with the parent Act and therefore ultra vires, illegal, and void.

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