Process Of Registration of Inter-Religious Marriage Under The Act

The process of registration for a Special Marriage is as follows:

Give notice to the Marriage Officer

• When a marriage is to be performed under this law, the parties getting married shall give notice¹ in writing to the Marriage Officer of the district in which at least one of them has lived for at least thirty days immediately before the date of the notice. Upon receiving an application signed by both the marrying parties for the registration of their marriage, the Marriage Officer shall give public notice and allow thirty days for objections, and hear any objection received within that period.

• The Marriage Officer will keep all such notices with the records of their office and will also enter a true copy of every such notice in a Marriage Notice Book,²  which must be open for inspection at all reasonable times, without fee, by any person.

• The Marriage Officer shall publish every such notice by attaching a copy to some noticeable place in their office. Where either of the marrying parties is not permanently living within the district of the Marriage Officer, the Officer shall also pass on a copy to the Marriage Officer of the district where they are permanently living, and that Marriage Officer shall attach a copy to some noticeable place in their office.

Sign a declaration for marriage

• Before the marriage is performed the parties and three witnesses will sign a declaration³ in the presence of the Marriage Officer, and the declaration will also be signed by the Marriage Officer. The declaration is in the form specified in the Third Schedule of the Act.

Performance of Marriage and Marriage Certificate

• When the marriage has been performed⁴ and all the conditions are fulfilled, the Marriage Officer will enter the details in a certificate in the Marriage Certificate Book. This certificate will be signed by the parties getting married and the three witnesses. The Certificate will then be unquestionable evidence that a legal marriage has been performed and that all formalities regarding the signatures of witnesses have been followed.

1. Section 5, The Special Marriage Act, 1954.[↩]
2. Section 6, The Special Marriage Act, 1954.[↩]
3. Section 11, The Special Marriage Act, 1954.[↩]
4. Section 12, The Special Marriage Act, 1954.[↩]