Special Marriage Act, 1954

Do you want to know more about a law that allows people of different religions and castes to marry in India?

This law is open to all Indian citizens and all Indian nationals in foreign countries. It is a great choice for couples who want to get married but their families or communities don’t approve. It is also a good option for couples who want to get married in a civil ceremony.

To learn more, read this blog post.

Background of the Special Marriage Act:

Henry Sumner Maine first introduced Act III of 1872, which would permit any dissenters to marry whomever they chose under a new civil marriage law. In the final wording, the law sought to legitimize marriages for those willing to renounce their profession of faith altogether (“I do not profess the Hindu, Christian, Jewish, etc. religion”). It can apply in inter-caste and inter-religion marriages. The Special Marriage Act, 1954, replaced the old Act III, 1872, with the new enactment having three major objectives. For a deeper historical understanding, you can refer to Wikipedia’s article on the Special Marriage Act, 1954.

Purpose of the Special marriage act

• India’s secular marriage law, enacted in 1954, safeguards individual rights and allows interfaith and intercaste marriages.

• The law protects the rights of consenting couples who want to marry across castes or religions. It provides a legal framework for interfaith or inter-caste marriages, upholding the interests of all Indian people.

• The law outlines requirements for a valid marriage, registration procedures, and provisions for dissolution of an interfaith marriage. It empowers individuals to choose their married partners freely.

• It acknowledges the rights of children born out of such marriages and allows two consenting eligible adults to marry without the interference of guardians or relatives.

Applicability of the Special Marriage Act of 1954

Individuals of diverse faiths, such as Muslims, Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Jains or Christians, can marry under this Act. 

The Act applies to interreligious, inter-caste marriages, love marriages and intra-faith marriages and also provides an option to register marriages carried out following the couple’s personal laws. 

Eligibility criterion to marry under the Special Marriage Act of 1954

You can get married under the Special Marriage Act if:

                (i)You must not be already married to someone else when you get married. 

                (ii) At the time of the wedlock, neither the bride nor the bridegroom should: 

(a) Be incapable of giving consent for marriage due to unsoundness of mind. 

(b) Suffer from mental diseases that make him/her unfit for marriage and the procreation of children even if they can give consent; 

 (c) Be patients of repeated outbreaks of insanity 

              (iii) The groom must be 21 years old and the bride must be 18 years old when they get married.

              (iv) Both parties are not within the degrees of prohibited relationship unless a custom of their community/tribe/group that governs each of them allows for such a marriage. The State Government must have issued an official notification regarding such a custom for that particular community.

              (v) No rituals or ceremonies have to be conducted. A court marriage is a legal agreement between two people who consent to marry each other.

Special Marriage act procedure for Marriage Registration

Here are the steps for registering a marriage under the Special Marriage Act of 1954:

1. The parties to the marriage shall submit a written notice in the form specified in the Second Schedule to the Marriage Officer of the district in which either the groom or bride has resided for not less than 30 days following the submission of the notice.
2. The Marriage Officer will keep all notices in the office records and will also entry the same details in the Marriage Notice Book.
3. The Marriage Officer will publish a copy of the notice at his office.
4. The marriage may be solemnized in the Marriage Officer’s office or within a place nearby the office after 30 days of publication of the notice unless it has been previously objected to. If the marriage takes place outside of the Marriage Officer’s office, all additional costs should be paid.
5. The couple and 3 witnesses must sign a declaration, and the marriage officer must also sign it.
6. The bride and groom say to each other, in front of the marriage officer and the three witnesses, in a language they both understand, “I, (A), take you, (B), to be my lawful wife (or husband).”
7. The marriage officer enters the marriage in the ‘Marriage Certificate book’ and issues a Marriage Certificate after the marriage is solemnised. Such a certificate shall be signed by the bride, the groom and 3 witnesses.

P.S.: 

• If you are a member of a Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, or Jain joint family and you marry under the Special Marriage Act, you are no longer considered a member of the joint family.
• If you don’t get married within 3 months of giving the marriage officer notice, or if you appealed to the district court and the appeal has been settled, you must submit a new notice. The old notice will no longer be valid.

Objection against marriage registration

Here are the steps to object to a marriage under the Special Marriage Act of 1954:

1. Any individual can object to a marriage registration if it contravenes any of the eligibility criteria mentioned in the Special Marriage Act within 30 days of the publication of the marriage notice.

2. The marriage officer will write down the objection and read and explain it to the person who objected. The person has to sign the objection as well.

3. If someone objects to a planned marriage under section 7, the marriage officer will not perform the marriage until they have investigated the objection and are satisfied that it is not a valid reason to stop the marriage, or until the person who objected withdraws the objection. The marriage officer should decide everything within 30 days of receiving such an objection. 
4.  If the Marriage Officer upholds the objection and refuses to solemnize the marriage, the bride or the groom who intends to marry may, within 30 days from the date of the Marriage Officer’s refusal, file an appeal to the district court within the jurisdiction of the Marriage Officer’s office. The decision of the district court on such an appeal will be final, and the Marriage Officer shall act as per the decision of the court.

Divorce under the Special Marriage Act of 1954

All matters and provisions regarding judicial separation, conjugal rights and divorce proceedings are mostly the same as those stated in the Hindu Marriage Act. 

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