Marriage is one of the most important aspects of our lives. In order to make sure that an individual’s right to choose their spouse is protected, the Allahabad high court’s recent decision to strike down the provisions of the Special Marriage Act, 1954 that make it mandatory for couples to publish a 30-day public notice of their intent to marry is a significant and much-needed correction.
The Special Marriage Act was originally enacted in 1872 to provide a framework for inter-caste and inter-religious marriages. The Act lays down procedures to be followed when any marriage is performed under its provisions.
On the grounds of religion and caste, people were not allowed to marry, as marriage was considered a matter of family pride. The Special Marriage Act gave a chance to people belonging to different religions and castes to marry each other without causing much damage to their family's pride.
It is one of the most liberal pieces of legislation passed for this country, and has created a good environment for all kinds of love stories.
As per Section 5 of the Special Marriage Act, marriages irrespective of the religion of the couple require parties to give a 30-day public notice of their intention to marry before solemnizing their marriage
The provision of mandatory 30 days’ notice period ended up giving vigilante groups, families hostile to inter-faith and inter-caste unions with disproportionate powers to police young couples.
The Act is applicable to all Indian citizens and Indian nationals who live in abroad.
Allahabad High Court observed the Special Marriage Act as ‘one of the earliest endeavours towards Uniform Civil Code.
Registering for the special marriage act is not as difficult as one might expect (it is not like getting married to a foreigner).
Both the parties to a marriage are required to be present physically at the time of submission of documents for issuance of public notice inviting objections.
One copy of the notice is posted on the notice board of the office and a copy of the notice and is sent by registered post to both parties as per the given address.
Registration is done 30 days after the date of notice after deciding any objection that may have been received during that period by the SDM.
Both parties along with three witnesses are required to be present on the date of registration.
In the recent past, it had come to my notice that there is some confusion about the interpretation of the requirement to give a notice of an intended marriage being under Section 5 of the Special Marriage Act 1954. The issue is whether or not the aforementioned period of 30 days is for either or both of the parties to the marriage.
This is an important issue because if it applies to one party only then a notice may be validly given if either party has resided in the district for 30 days leading up to the date of giving notice but if both parties have to have resided in the district for 30 days then it cannot be validly given unless at least 60 days have passed prior to giving notice.
