Unlike marriages according to one’s customs, court marriages in India are done s per the provisions of Special Marriage Act, 1954. According to the provision of law, marriage can be solemnised in the court or in the presence of a marriage officer and three witnesses.
Who is eligible
Two persons of different genders belonging to any caste, religion, place etc. can marry through the Court as provided by the law
Certain conditions, however have to be fulfilled by two persons to register for court marriage in Mumbai-
There must be no pre-existing marriage, if either of the parties was previously married, no living spouse should be there, i.e.the person applying for court marriage, in case was married earlier, then at the time of marriage should be either a divorcee or a widower/widow.
The groom should have completed the age of 21 years while the female must be more than 18 years old or above.
The parties filing for court marriage must not fall within the degrees of prohibited relationship . Provided that the customs governing at least one of the parties allows so.
Documents required:
Application form to be duly filled and signed by the parties
Receipt of fees paid for the application form
Documents demonstrating the parties' birth dates
Documentary evidence proving the stay of either of the parties in the area under the jurisdiction of the marriage officer.
Affidavits from both parties regarding-
Date of birth
Present marital status of the parties i.e. unmarried, divorcee or widow/er
Affirmation that the parties do not fall not within the degrees of prohibited relationship as per the Act.
Passport size photos of both parties to marriage should be duly attested by a gazetted officer.
Procedure for Court Marriage-
Provided under Chapter II titled as “solemnization of special marriages” of the Act, the procedure for the court marriagecould be understood as follows-
Notice for the intended marriage
Mentioned under Section 5 of the Act, a notice is given to the marriage officer. The parties would have to provide the notice for marriage in writing and in the form as prescribed in the Second Schedule to the Marriage officer. The marriage officer mentioned above, must have jurisdiction over the area where at least one of the parties have been residing for a period not less than 1 month. For example, for court marriage in Ghaziabad, one of the parties must be residing in the area under the jurisdiction of the marriage officer for at least a period of 30 days.
Publication
The Marriage officer would then publish the notice in some inconspicuous part of his office.
All true copies of the notices would be kept in the Marriage Notice Book.
In case the parties to the marriage do not reside within the area of jurisdiction of the Marriage Officer then he would send the copies of the notice to be published in his office of the Marriage Officer under whose jurisdiction either of the parties reside.
Objection
Provided under Section 7 of the Act of 1954, any person can raise an objection to the notice of marriage published in the office of the registrar. The objection so made can be raised on the grounds mentioned in Section 7 of the Act only.
The objection so raised must be within a period of 30 days of the publication of the notice for marriage.
The objection raised would be recorded in the marriage Notice Book by the Marriage Registrar.
As mentioned under Section 8, the marriage officer has a period of 30 days to enquire about the validity of such objections raised.
The marriage would be solemnised if such objection is found to be invalid.
However, if the objection so raised was found valid by the Marriage officer based on the grounds provided under the Act, then such marriage won’t be solemnised in the court, but the matter could be taken into appeal before the District Court by the parties concerned.
Place of solemnisation
Provided under Section 12 of the Act, marriage could be solemnised at the office of the Marriage officer or at a place within a reasonable distance.
Marriage would be valid only if both parties in the presence of the marriage officer affirm that they are ready to get married to the other party and also three witnesses are present.
Certificate of marriage
The marriage certificate issued should contain the name of the parties, witnesses, and the marriage officer as well as their signatures, including the date of marriage.
Conclusion-
As could be understood from the above discussion that a number of procedures are required to be followed by the parties to the marriage. Hence it is important to seek legal advice from the court marriage lawyer in Delhi, who could explain the whole procedure with every minute detail.
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