SPECIAL MARRIAGE

ACT,1954RASHMI DUBEY

FACULTY OF LAW

INTRODUCTION : The Special Marriage Act, 1954 was passed in

the year 1954 and came into force from 1st January,1955. It applies to

the whole of India except the State of Jammu & Kashmir. It contains

51 Sections divided into 8 Chapters. The Act provides for a special

form of marriage in certain cases; registration of marriage and

divorce.

Under the Act, any two persons irrespective of their religion can get

married. In other words, the Act provides for validity of marriage

between men and women irrespective of caste and

religious restrictions.

SPECIAL MARRIAGE ACT,1954

A marriage to be valid under the Act, the following conditions are to

be satisfied :

1. Monogamy : Neither party should have a spouse living at the time

of the marriage.

2. Must not be of unsound mind : Both the parties to the marriage

must be of sound mind(sane mind).

3. Age Limit : The boy and girl must have completed the age of 21

years and 18 years respectively.

CONDITIONS OF VALID MARRIAGE UNDER THE ACT (Sec. 4)

4. Prohibited Relationship : The parties to the marriage are not within

the degree of prohibited relationship.

PROCEDURE FOR SOLEMNIZATION OF

MARRIAGE UNDER THE ACT : 1. Notice (Sec. 5) : The parties to the marriage shall give a notice in

writing to the Marriage Officer of the District and at least one of the

parties has resided for a period not less than 30 days immediately

preceding the date of such notice.

CONDITIONS OF VALID MARRIAGE UNDER THE ACT (Sec. 4)

2. Publication of Notice(Sec.6) : A true copy of the notice shall be

filed in the “Marriage Notice Book”.

3. Objection to marriage (Sec. 7 & 8) : When the notice is published,

any person can raise an objection to the proposed marriage. Then, the

Marriage Officer has to make necessary enquiry and can pass

appropriate orders. His powers are similar to the powers of a civil court.

The parties can file an appeal before the District Court against the order

within 30 days.

PROCEDURE FOR SOLEMNIZATION OF MARRIAGE UNDER THE ACT :

4. Declaration (Sec. 11) : According to Section 11 of the Act, the

marriage declaration shall be signed by the parties to the marriage and

three witnesses and the same is countersigned by the Marriage Officer.

5. Place and Form(Sec. 12) : The Marriage may be solemnized at the

office of the Marriage Officer or within the reasonable distance from the

office. If the marriage is to take place outside the office, the parties

must be ready to pay additional fees. The parties shall say in the

presence of Marriage Officer and three witnesses.

“I (A) take thee (B), to be my lawful wife (or husband)”

PROCEDURE FOR SOLEMNIZATION OF MARRIAGE UNDER THE ACT :

6. Certificate of Marriage(Sec. 13):After the marriage is solemnized,

the Marriage Officer enters the marriage in the ‘Marriage Certificate

Book’ and issues Marriage Certificate. The certificate is to be signed by

the parties and the witnesses.

Other provisions of the Act :

1. Section 24 & 25 deals with Void and Voidable marriages.

2. Section 22 deals with Restitution of Conjugal Rights.

3. Section 23 deals with Judicial Separation.

PROCEDURE FOR SOLEMNIZATION OF MARRIAGE UNDER THE ACT :

4. Section 27 provides for the Grounds of Divorce.

5. Section 28 speaks about the divorce by Mutual Consent; and

6. The Law of Succession applicable to the parties (who got married)

under the Act is Indian Succession Act, 1925.

Other Provisions………..

THANK YOU

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