Laws and legal provisions related to the registration of marriage

A Supreme Court Bench headed by Hon’ble Justice Arijit Pasayat, has directed all states and union territories to come up with a proper legislation within three months making registration of marriages compulsory. The Hon’ble Court added that all the citizens of India belonging to various religions are bound to register their marriage in their respective states where the marriage has been solemnized. Every ceremonial marriage in India now needs to register for the people of all religions and for all the states of India as per the Supreme Court order. This regulation is for the people of all religions like Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists etc.

As per calculations of social engineers, compulsory registration of marriages in India would go a long way in reducing the crime against women.

The Special Marriage Act, 1954 replaced the old Act III, 1872. Conditions of this marriage Act are -

• The bridegroom must be at least 21 years old and the bride must be at least 18 years old.
• The parties should not fall within the degree of prohibited relationship.
• Each party involved should have no other subsisting valid marriage. In other words, each party should be monogamous.
• The parties should be competent in regards to their mental capacity to the extent that they are able to give valid consent for the marriage.

Applicability of special marriage Act, 1954 -

• This Act is applicable to the entire territory of India.
• Any person, irrespective of religion.
• Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, Parsi, or Jewish can perform marriage under the Special Marriage Act, 1954.
• Inter-caste marriages are performed under this Act.

Process for Registration under Special Marriage Act 1954:

After receiving the application signed by both the parties, the marriage officer gives a public notice allowing a period of thirty days inviting any objection related to the concerned marriage. Registration is done 30 days after the date of notice; both parties are required to be present after submission of documents along with three witnesses.

The following conditions must be satisfied as per the provisions of the Hindu Marriage Act:

• It can be solemnized between two Hindus if neither party has a living spouse at the time of marriage;
• The age of valid marriage is 21 and 18 respectively for the boys and girls
• At the time of the marriage, neither party is incapable of giving valid consent or suffering from a mental illness that inhibits their fitness for marriage.
• The Act specifically disallows marriages between prohibited degrees of relationships.

The provisions of the Act are applicable to any person who is Hindu by religion in any of its forms; this Act is not applicable on Muslim, Jew, Christian, or Parsi by religion. After completing the verification process, a date is fixed when both the parties along with the witness should be present. The Certificate of Marriage is issued on the same day.

If you need any further information or clarification in this regard, please feel free to contact us or post your queries on our website where one of our exclusively appointed legal experts will help you more: delhi-lawyers.in