Unit-5 Special Marriage Act

INDEX
2. Definitions
3. Marriage Officers.
CHAPTER II SOLEMNIZATION OF SPECIAL MARRIAGES – Explained in brief at
the end
4. Conditions relating to solemnization of special marriages.
5. Notice of intended marriage.
6. Marriage Notice Book and publication.
7. Objection to marriage.
8. Procedure on receipt of objection.
9. Powers of Marriage Officers in respect of inquiries.
10. Procedure on receipt of objection by Marriage Officer abroad.
11. Declaration by parties and witnesses.
12. Place and form of solemnization.
13. Certificate of marriage.
14. New notice when marriage not solemnized within three months.
CHAPTER IV CONSEQUENCES OF MARRIAGE UNDER THIS ACT
19 20 21

Section 2
“degrees of prohibited relationship”-a man and any of the persons mentioned in Part
I of the First Schedule and a woman and any of the persons mentioned in Part II of the said
Schedule are within the degrees of prohibited relationship.
Explanation I.―Relationship includes, ― (a) relationship by half or uterine blood as well as
by full blood;
(b) illegitimate blood relationship as well as legitimate;
(c) relationship by adoption as well as by blood; and all terms of relationship in this Act shall
be construed accordingly.
Explanation II. ― “Full blood” and “half-blood” ―two persons are said to be related to
each other by full blood when they are descended from a common ancestor by the same wife
and by half-blood when they are descended from a common ancestor but by different wives.
Explanation III. ― “Uterine blood” ―two persons are said to be related to each other by
uterine blood when they are descended from a common ancestress but by different husbands.

Explanation IV. ―In Explanations II and III, “ancestor” includes the father and
“ancestress” the mother;

(d) “district” in relation to a Marriage Officer, means the area for which he is appointed as
such under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) of section 3;

(e) “district court” means, in any area for which there is a city civil court, that court, and
in any other area, the principal civil court of original jurisdiction, and includes any other civil
court which may be specified by the State Government by notification in the Official Gazette
as having jurisdiction in respect of the matters dealt with in this Act;]

(f) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act;

(g) “State Government”, in relation to a Union territory, means the administrator thereof.

3. Marriage Officers. ―(1) For the purposes of this Act, the State Government may, by,
notification in the Official Gazette, appoint one or more Marriage Officers for the whole or
any part of the State.

4. Conditions relating to solemnization of special marriages.―

Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force relating to
the solemnization of marriages, a marriage between any two persons may be solemnized
under this Act, if at the time of the marriage the following conditions are fulfilled, namely:―
(a) neither party has a spouse living;
b) neither party― (i) is incapable of giving a valid consent to it in consequence of
unsoundness of mind; or
(ii) though capable of giving a valid consent, has been suffering from mental disorder of such
a kind or to such an extent as to be unfit for marriage and the procreation of children; or
(iii) has been subject to recurrent attacks of insanity
(c) the male has completed the age of twenty-one years and the female the age of eighteen
years;
(d) the parties are not within the degrees of prohibited relationship: Provided that where a
custom governing at least one of the parties permits of a marriage between them, such
marriage may be solemnized, notwithstanding that they are within the degrees of prohibited
relationship; and
(e) where the marriage is solemnized in the State of Jammu and Kashmir, both parties are
citizens of India domiciled in the territories to which this Act extends
[Explanation.―In this section, “custom”, in relation to a person belonging to any tribe,
community, group or family, means any rule which the State Government may, by
notification in the Official Gazette, specify in this behalf as applicable to members of that
tribe, community, group or family: Provided that no such notification shall be issued in
relation to the members of any tribe, community, group or family, unless the State
Government is satisfied— (i) that such rule has been continuously and uniformly observed
for a long time among those members; (ii) that such rule is certain and not unreasonable or
opposed to public policy; and (iii) that such rule, if applicable only to a family, has not been
discontinued by the family.]

5. Notice of intended marriage.―

When a marriage is intended to be solemnized under this Act, the parties to the marriage shall
give notice thereof in writing in the form specified in the Second Schedule to the Marriage
Officer of the district in which at least one of the parties to the marriage has resided for a
period of not less than thirty days immediately preceding the date on which such notice is
given.

6. Marriage Notice Book and publication.―

(1) The Marriage Officer shall keep all notices given under section 5 with the records of his
office and shall also forthwith enter a true copy of every such notice in a book prescribed for
that purpose, to be called the Marriage Notice Book, and such book shall be open for
inspection at all reasonable times, without fee, by any person desirous of inspecting the same.
(2) The Marriage Officer shall cause every such notice to be published by affixing a copy
thereof to some conspicuous place in his office.
(3) Where either of the parties to an intended marriage is not permanently residing within the
local limits of the district of the Marriage Officer to whom the notice has been given under
section 5, the Marriage Officer shall also cause a copy of such notice to be transmitted to the
Marriage Officer of the district within whose limits such party is permanently residing, and
that Marriage Officer shall thereupon cause a copy thereof to be affixed to some conspicuous
place in his office.

7. Objection to marriage.―
(1) Any person may, before the expiration of thirty days from the date on which any such
notice has been published under sub-section (2) of section 6, object to the marriage on the
ground that it would contravene one or more of the conditions specified in section 4.
(2) After the expiration of thirty days from the date on which notice of an intended marriage
has been published under sub-section (2) of section 6, the marriage may be solemnized,
unless it has been previously objected to under sub-section (1).
(3) The nature of the objection shall be recorded in writing by the Marriage Officer in the
Marriage Notice Book, be read over and explained if necessary, to the person making the
objection and shall be signed by him or on his behalf.

8. Procedure on receipt of objection.―

(1) If an objection is made under section 7 to an intended marriage, the Marriage Officer shall
not solemnize the marriage until he has inquired into the matter of the objection and is
satisfied that it ought not to prevent the solemnization of the marriage or the objection is
withdrawn by the person making it; but the Marriage Officer shall not take more than thirty
days from the date of the objection for the purpose of inquiring into the matter of the
objection and arriving at a decision.
(2) If the Marriage Officer upholds the objection and refuses to solemnize the marriage,
either party to the intended marriage may, within a period of thirty days from the date of such
refusal, prefer an appeal to the district court within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the
Marriage Officer has his office, and the decision of the district court on such appeal shall be
final, and the Marriage Officer shall act in conformity with the decision of the court.

9. Powers of Marriage Officers in respect of inquiries.―

(1) For the purpose of any inquiry under section 8, the Marriage Officer shall have all the
powers vested in a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), when
trying a suit in respect of the following matters, namely:―
(a) summoning and enforcing the attendance of witnesses and examining them on oath;
(b) discovery and inspection;
(c) compelling the production of documents;
(d) reception of evidence of affidavits; and
(e) issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses; and any proceeding before the
Marriage Officer shall be deemed to be a judicial proceeding within the meaning of section
193 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).
(2) If it appears to the Marriage Officer that the objection made to an intended marriage is not
reasonable and has not been made in good faith he may impose on the person objecting costs
by way of compensation not exceeding one thousand rupees and award the whole or any part
thereof, to the parties to the intended marriage, and any order for costs so made may be
executed in the same manner as a decree passed by the district court within the local limits of
whose jurisdiction the Marriage Officer has his office.
10. Procedure on receipt of objection by Marriage Officer abroad.―
Where an objection is made under section 7 to a Marriage Officer 1 [in the State of Jammu
and Kashmir in respect of an intended marriage in the State], and the Marriage Officer, after
making such inquiry into the matter as he thinks fit, entertains a doubt in respect thereof, he
shall not solemnize the marriage but shall transmit the record with such statement respecting
the matter as he thinks fit to the Central Government, and the Central Government, after
making such inquiry into the matter and after obtaining such advice as it thinks fit, shall give
its decision thereon in writing to the Marriage Officer who shall act in conformity with the
decision of the Central Government.

11. Declaration by parties and witnesses.―

Before the marriage is solemnized the parties and three witnesses shall, in the presence of the
Marriage Officer, sign a declaration in the form specified in the Third Schedule to this Act,
and the declaration shall be countersigned by the Marriage Officer.

12. Place and form of solemnization.―

(1) The marriage may be solemnized at the office of the Marriage Officer, or at such other
place within a reasonable distance therefrom as the parties may desire, and upon such
conditions and the payment of such additional fees as may be prescribed.
(2) The marriage may be solemnized in any form which the parties may choose to adopt:
Provided that it shall not be complete and binding on the parties unless each party says to the
other in the presence of the Marriage Officer and the three witnesses and in any language
understood by the parties,―“I, (A), take the (B), to be my lawful wife (or husband)”.

13. Certificate of marriage.―

(1) When the marriage has been solemnized, the Marriage Officer shall enter a certificate
thereof in the form specified in the Fourth Schedule in a book to be kept by him for that
purpose and to be called the Marriage Certificate Book and such certificate shall be signed by
the parties to the marriage and the three witnesses.
(2) On a certificate being entered in the Marriage Certificate Book by the Marriage Officer,
the Certificate shall be deemed to be conclusive evidence of the fact that a marriage under
this Act has been solemnized and that all formalities respecting the signatures of witnesses
have been complied with.

14. New notice when marriage not solemnized within three months.―
Whenever a marriage is not solemnized within three calendar months from the date on which
notice thereof has been given to the Marriage Officer as required by section 5, or where an
appeal has been filed under sub-section (2) of section 8, within three months from the date of
the decision of the district court on such appeal or, where the record of a case has been
transmitted to the Central Government under section 10, within three months from the date of
decision of the Central Government, the notice and all other proceedings arising therefrom
shall be deemed to have lapsed, and no Marriage Officer shall solemnize the marriage until a
new notice has been given in the manner laid down in this Act.

CHAPTER IV CONSEQUENCES OF MARRIAGE UNDER THIS ACT

19. Effect of marriage on member of undivided family.―
The marriage solemnized under this Act of any member of an undivided family who professes the
Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh or Jaina religions shall be deemed to effect his severance from such family.

20. Rights and disabilities not affected by Act.―

Subject to the provisions of section 19, any person whose marriage is solemnized under this Act shall
have the same rights and shall be subject to the same disabilities in regard to the right of succession
to any property as a person to whom the Caste Disabilities Removal Act, 1850 (21 of 1850), applies.

21. Succession to property of parties married under Act.―

Notwithstanding any restrictions contained in the Indian Succession Act, 1925 (39 of 1925), with
respect to its application to members of 9 certain communities, succession to the property or any
person whose marriage is solemnized under this Act and to the property of the issue of such
marriage shall be regulated by the provisions of the said Act and for the purposes of this Act shall
have effect as if Chapter III of Part V (Special Rules for Parsi Intestates) had been omitted therefrom.

21A. Special provision in certain cases.―

Where the marriage is solemnized under this Act of any person who professes the Hindu, Buddhist,
Sikh or Jaina religion with a person who professes the Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh or Jaina religion, section
19 and section 21 shall not apply and so much of section 20 as creates a disability shall also not
apply.

Procedure for Solemnization of Marriage under the Special Marriage Act,

1954

The District Registrars and Sub Registrars are Marriage Officers as per the Act.
The Special Marriage Act extends to the whole of India except the state of Jammu
and Kashmir and applies also to citizens of India domiciled in the territories to
which; this Act extends who are outside the said territories.

Solemnization of Special Marriages

A marriage between any two persons may be solemnized under this Act provided
the following conditions are satisfied. Namely: -
 1. Neither party has a spouse living
2. Neither party is an idiot or a lunatic
3. The male must have completed the age of twenty-one years and female the
age of eighteen years.
4. The persons seeking to marry must not be within the degrees of prohibited
relationship.

Notice of Intended Marriages

Both the parties to the marriage should give notice in writing in the prescribed form
to the marriage officer of the district in which at least one of the parties to the
marriage has been residing for a period of not less than thirty days immediately
preceding the date on which such notice is given.

A fee of Rs 3 has to be paid for publication of notice. Notice will be published in

the office of the Marriage Officer of the district within whose jurisdiction each of
the parties to the marriage is permanently residing.

The notice may be presented before the marriage officers by both parties in person
or by registered post. In the later case a fee of RS 3 for notice charge should be sent
by Money Order. The Performa for the notice is given separately. (Please see
Notice of Intended Marriage)

Solemnization of Marriage
The marriage can be solemnized on expiry of 30 days after clearing objections if
any filed. The validity for the notice is 3 months. Before the solemnization of
marriage the parties and three witnesses in the presence of the marriage officer
should sign declarations in the prescribed form.

The marriage can be solemnized in any form, which the parties may choose to
adopt. The marriages can be solemnized either with the office of the Marriage
Officer or at such other place within a reasonable distance as the parties may
desire. A fee of RS 10 has to be paid for solemnization. Certificate will be issued
on stamp paper if RS 10 produced by the parties on payment of Rs. 2/-

Registration of marriages celebrated in other forms

These provision deals with the registration of marriages already are celebrated in
forms other than the special marriage Act.

The following conditions should be satisfied for the registration of marriages

1. The couple must have been married in some other forms and they must
have been living as husband and wife ever since such marriage.
2. Neither party has more than one spouse living.
3. Neither party is an idiot or lunatic.
4. The parties should complete 21 years of age at the time of registration.
5. Both the parties should reside within the jurisdiction of the Marriage
Officer for a period of 30 days.
Marriage Registration
On receipt of application signed by both the parties and also after publication of
notice the marriage will be registered on the expiry of the notice period of 30 days.
Certificate will be entered in the certificate book and shall be signed by the parties
to the marriage and three witnesses.

A fee for RS 10/-has to be paid for registration. Certificate will be issued on stamp
paper of Rs 10/- produced by the parties and payment of RS 2/-. Services rendered
by the Society Registrar (District Registrar)