44 i REVIEW OF LAWS, IMPLEMENTATION OF TREATIES AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS OF HUMAN RIGHTS Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, TWpura, Punjab, Rajasthan and Maharashtra and the Union Territory of Pondicherry had framed Rules under Section 8 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. However, except for Maharashtra, the registration of marriages was not compulsory anywhere. The States of Bihar and Himachal Pradesh were in the process of framing the Rules. The States of Jammu and Kashmir, Goa, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and the Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobaf Islands and Lakshwdeep so far had not framed any such Rules. Information from the remaining States was awaited. 4.16 After further considering this entire issue, the Commission requested Justice (SmL) Sujata V. Manohar, Member of the Commission to study it once again and to offer her comments. She was of the view that it was necessary, first of all, to provide for registration of all marriages — whether religious or civil. Further, Just as there were registers of births and deaths, there should be registers of marriages where any marriage in any form, performed within the area, must be registered. This would provide an authentic record of the marriage and put an end to all disputes regarding the performance of the marriage. Jusdce (Smt.) Sujata V Manohar also made certain specific suggestions for the amendment of the Child Marriage Restraint Act. A copy of detailed remarks on the subject may be seen atAnnexure 3. On 12 December 2000, the Commission considered the remarks prepared by Justice (Smt.) Sujata V. Manohar on the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 and decided to send these, as the remarks of the Commission, to the Department of Women and Child Development for placing them before the group of Ministers at the time when they considered the draft on Women's Empowerment Policy. C] Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 4.17 It is the view of the Commission that the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 is in serious and urgent need of amendment if the purpose'of the Act, 'the better protection' of human rights in the country, is to be achieved. It was to this end that the Commission set-up a high-level Advisory Committee under the chairmanship of Justice A. M. Ahmadi, former Chief Justice of India, to assess the need for structural changes and amendments to the Act. The Committee submitted its report to the Commission on 18 October 1999 and the Commission subsequently, in February 2000 considered those recommendations most carefully. Following a clause-by-clause analysis, the Commission formulated its own views on the amendments that were NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION