Respected sir/mam...
In the present scenario a person has a choice to marry within his own religion, community or caste or to marry with a person of another religion, community or caste. The former form of marriage is governed by the ‘personal laws’ or Special Marriage Act, 1954 if the couple desires whereas for the latter part if the parties desire they can opt for one of the two ways:-
Conversion
Secondly, they register the marriage under the Special Marriage Act.
Special Marriage Act, 1954
The Special Marriage Act (SMA) is not concerned with the religion of the person intending to get married. This applies to all parties who are registered under the SMA. The Act is not concerned whether the marriage took place between the people of same religion or between persons of different religion.
Besides this the Central Government also implemented Foreign Marriage Act, 1969 which empowered the citizens of India to get married abroad with an Indian citizen or a foreigner. The main feature of both these Acts is they are not concerned with the religion of the person intending to get married.
This Act contains provisions to rule inter-religious marriage and for the registration of marriage. Due to these features a marriage registered under this act is known as a civil marriage.
Conditions necessary for solemnization of marriage (Section 4)
Monogamous marriage.
The parties should be of sound mind and should not suffer from any mental disability.
The male has completed 21 years and the female has completed 18 years.
Both the parties do not fall under the degree of prohibited relationship, however it is pertinent to note that if the custom of any one of the parties allow for the marriage under prohibited relation such marriage may be solemnized.
Procedure
The procedure involved for the registration of marriage under SMA is rather simple, though certain basic conditions should be followed.
The procedure starts with the filing of an application in writing to the marriage officer of the district where either of the parties has resided for the past 30 days.
After receiving the application the Marriage officer gives a 30 days’ notice period to accept objections on the marriage of the intended parties.
The objections are entertained if they are solely on the conditions mentioned in Section 4.
The marriage officers are required to maintain a marriage notice book which contains all the details of the intended marriage.
If there is any objection
The person objecting should only be on the basis of condition given in Section 4 for the solemnization of marriage.
The objection is recorded in the marriage book with the person’s signature.
The Marriage officer has the power to inquiry of the objection.
If there is no objection
If within 30 days of the notice no person objects to the marriage of the intended person the marriage can be solemnized in any form at the office of the marriage officer or at any place in the presence of the marriage officer.
The marriage officer enters all the details in the marriage notice book which should be signed by the parties and three witnesses.
The above procedure should be in the presence of the marriage officer.
Consequences of registration under Special Marriage Act
According to Section 19 any Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh or Jain who is registered under SMA are severed from the joint family property.
However, if the marriage is an intra-religion marriage between Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh or Jain then this section will not apply.
For person married under SMA no personal laws for succession, maintenance or divorce will be applicable to them.
The succession laws will be governed by the Indian Succession Act.
The registration of marriage acts as a conclusive proof of the marriage.
The marriage is governed by the elaborate provisions of Divorce, Nullity, and Custody etc of the SMA...
Thank you