Under the present legal system of India, citizens have a choice between their respective religion-based and community-specific marriage laws on the one hand and, on the other hand, the general and common law of civil marriages. The Special Marriage Act is a central piece of legislation made to validate and register inter religious and inter-caste marriages in India. It allows two individuals to solemnize their marriage through a civil contract. No religious formalities are needed to be carried out under the Act.Under the present legal system of India, citizens have a choice between their respective.

In a revolutionary event, HS Maine Act III authorized dissenters to choose their matrimonial partner and legalized their marriage under the Civil Marriage Law of 1872. Society did not approve of the Act and opposed its enactment. Additionally, the incompetence of the Civil Marriage Law created the Special Marriage Act of 1872. They could marry without any religious ceremonies or converting their religion. After that, the Parliament came up with a special Act that ensured the dissenters marrying under the ambit of the Act would be safeguarded by providing the following legal provisions:

1. A specialized form of marriage.
2. Compulsory registration of marriages.
3. Procedure for Divorce.

A marriage under the Special Marriage Act, 1954 allows people from two different religious backgrounds to come together in the bond of marriage. The Special Marriage Act, 1954, lays down the procedure for both solemnization and registration of marriage, where either the husband or wife or both are not Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, or Sikhs.

The Act completely transformed the outlook of society on inter-caste and inter-faith marriages in the following manner:

Applicability

The Act, unlike other marriage acts, takes citizens of India into its ambit, irrespective of their religion and caste. Hence, any individual desirous of marrying another individual could get married under the said Act.

Rites and Ceremonies

The Act perceives marriage as a civil contract, so there are no rites and ceremonies performed. The court marriage gets performed under the act.

Essential Conditions of Marriage under Special Marriage Act

The Act observes the procedure of court marriage for any marriage under the said Act. The various provisions of the Act in this regard are:

Prerequisites for valid Marriage

Section 4 of the Act lays down the conditions for a marriage to be valid under the Act. These are:

No living spouse

The Act mandates that, at the time of marriage, neither party should have a living spouse. Hence, their first marriage has to get revoked either through divorce, their spouse’s death, or any other manner that ends the marriage.

Valid Consent

Essentially, the parties should be able to give valid consent. Neither of them should be of unsound mind or liable to get a recurring insanity act. Even if not insane, unfit for marriage, or have an inability to procreate, children render them unfit for marriage under this section.

Age

Any male who is 21 years of age or female who is 18 could marry as per the Act.

Fall within degrees of Prohibited Relationship

The parties must not fall within the prohibited relationship degrees. Where the custom allows such marriage, the act would not bar it. Any couple wishing to avail the fruits of this Act is required to issue a notice in writing to the “Marriage Officer” of the district where at least one of the parties to the marriage has been residing for the last thirty days. The marriage is generally scheduled within three months from the date of issue of notice. The notice so received will be published in the office of the Marriage Officer by displaying it in a conspicuous place. A copy of the same must also be attached to a “Marriage Notice Book,” which could be inspected by anyone.

Any objections to the marriage, with respect to age, capacity to consent, incest, etc, may be addressed to the marriage officer within 30 days of the publication of the notice. In case of any objections, the Marriage Officer is mandated to conduct an inquiry into its validity within a window of 30 days, during which the marriage cannot be solemnized.  If the Marriage Officer discovers that the objection is valid and decides against the marriage of the concerned parties, the bride or groom may appeal to the district court within thirty days of such refusal. If all the concerned objections are dealt with, the bride, groom, and any three witnesses need to sign a declaration in the presence of the Marriage Officer, who would then countersign it. In the absence of any objections, the marriage will be solemnized upon the cessation of the objection period.

Power of Enquiry

In receiving an objection, marriage officers are granted the following rights: 

1. Summoning and enforcing witnesses’ attendance.
2. Examining the witnesses on oath.
3. Demanding documents to produce.
4. Demanding the evidence on affidavits.
5. Issue of commissions for the witness scrutiny.

Registration of Valid Marriage

• The procedure of registration begins when the pirates submit the duly signed application to the Marriage Officer.
• He then releases a public notice after thirty days.
• Any objections to such a marriage shall get heard within these thirty days.
• After that, fulfilling all the necessary conditions of section 15, he might enter the certificate of the marriage in the Marriage Certificate Book in the prescribed manner.
• Then this certificate should be signed by the parties to the marriage and any three witnesses.

Void Marriages

The marriages solemnized under the said act would be rendered void if any of the conditions laid down in Section 6 are left. Either party to the marriage could file a petition for declaring the marriage void.

According to Section 24, the impotence of the respondent could also be the ground for rendering the marriage void.

Voidable Marriages

As per Section 25, marriage under the said act would be rendered voidable under the following situations:

Non-consummation of Marriage

If the respondent refuses to consummate the marriage, the CourtourtCourtrt could grant decree upon the fulfilment of the following conditions:

1. Petitioner did not know respondents’ conditions at the time of marriage.
2. Initiation of proceedings within a year of marriage.
3. Lack of marital intercourse since the revelation of respondent’s condition.

Divorce under Special Marriage Act

Grounds for Divorce

Under Section 27, the Act laid specific common grounds for the petitioner filing the divorce irrespective of religion. These are:

1. Adultery
2. Desertion for a minimum of two years
3. Respondent subject to imprisonment for a minimum of seven years
4. Cruelty
5. Unsound Mind
6. Venereal Disease
7. Leprosy
8. Presumption of Death
9. Responded husband guilty of rape or outraging women’s modesty

It must be noted that the Court might not entertain the petition if a minimum of one year has not passed since marriage registration. However, in some instances where the petition is subject to ultimate hardships, the court would accept the petition.

Divorce by Mutual Consent

The parties who have agreed to a mutual divorce could file a petition under Section 28 of the said Act. They could move the application to the District Court stating that they have been living separately for more than one year and have discovered that they could not live in the matrimonial ties anymore.

Citations: Lata Singh Vs State of U.P. & Another, AIR 2006 SC 2522.

• The Honorable Supreme Court held that the writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution was maintainable for quashing the Session Trial under Section 366 & 368 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
• The court observed that the marriage between the Petitioner and Brahma Nand Gupta was valid.
• The Court further observed that everyone has the right to marry and a definite right to choose their life partner under the ambit of Article 21 of the Constitution. This fundamental right of any citizen cannot be violated at the instance of another person.
• In the present case, the petitioner wanted to quash the petition filed by her enraged brother because the petitioner underwent an inter caste marriage. Hence, the Apex Court ruled that the petitioner being 24 years of age, is major and in a position to chose her matrimonial partner.
• SHAFIN JAHAN v. ASOKAN K.M (A.I.R 2018 SC 357) case, where a Hindu women named Hidaya convert herself to Islam religion, upon this her father criticized that she had been �indoctrinated’ into embracing Islam and alsoa victim of a movement to convert Hindu women to another religion and fear to transfer them to other country. It was consenting marriage between two and her conversion to Islamwas of her own choice and will. Taking in to the account, we can conclude that the subject matter here is no tone religion tall. But it is one of the women’s freedom of choice and religion, human rights and also to protect personal freedom.
• Benefits of the verdict:
• It would decrease the cases of conversion for marriage, as the delay under the special marriage Act 1954 was forcing many couples to marry by converting. It shall remove hindrances to inter-faith and inter-caste marriages, and thus could promote ideals of secularism and egalitarianism. It shall provide relief to interfaith couples from being targeted by vigilante groups.

Divorce Vs Judicial Separation

Divorce	Judicial Separation
It could be filed only after the lapse of one year from marriage	Could be filed at any time post marriage
Double step judgement	Single-step judgement
Dissolution of marriage	Provisional termination of a marriage
No probability of conciliation	Probability of conciliation
Remarriage is allowed after the decree for divorce is passed	Could not remarry after the decree for judicial separation is passed.
It happens after the Judicial separation	Is ground for divorce
Parties must live in an adulterous relationship	A single event of adultery is enough for taking judicial separation.

Difference between the Hindu Marriage Act and Special Marriage Act

The Hindu Marriage Act only applies to the Hindus, whereas the Special Marriage Act extends to all Indian citizens.

The Hindu Marriage Act was enacted in 1955 by the Parliament of India Act. The Hindu Marriage Act allows for an already solemnized marriage to be registered. It does not provide for Registrar for solemnization of a marriage. Parties to the marriage must apply to the Registrar in whose jurisdiction the marriage is solemnized or to the Registrar in whose jurisdiction either party to the marriage has resided for at least six months immediately before the date of marriage. Both parties must appear with their parents or guardians or other witnesses before the Registrar within one month from the date of marriage. There is a provision for the Registrar, and subsequently, the District Registrar concerned to condone delay for up to five years.

The Special Marriage Act, 1954, is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted to provide the citizens of India and all Indian nationals in foreign countries with a special form of marriage, regardless of the religion or faith practiced by either party. The Special Marriage Act provides for marriage solemnization as well as registration by a marriage officer. The parties to the intended marriage must notify the marriage officer in whose jurisdiction at least one of the parties has resided for at least 30 days prior to the date of the notice. It should be put in his office at some conspicuous place. If either party lives in another Marriage Officer’s area, a copy of the notice for similar publication should be sent to him. If no objections are received, the marriage may be solemnized after the expiry of a month from the date of publication of the notice The Marriage Officer has to inquire into them if any objections are received and make a decision either to solemnize the marriage or to refuse it. Registration will be made after the marriage has been solemnized.

Amount of Maintenance

The maintenance amount shall be purely the Court’s discretion. The court shall take due account of the following factors in deciding the amount of maintenance, namely: 

• The position and status of the parties; 
• The fair preference of the claimant; 
• If the claimant resides separately, whether the claimant is justified in doing so; 
• The value of the claimant’s estate and any income derived from that property or from the claimant’s own income or from any other source.

CONCLUSION:

Inter-standing marriage segment with respect to the Special Marriage Act. In India, marriage is considered as a sacred, divine, and was called the holy union. It’s a basic piece of our way of life. India is a large nation, and thereafter people from different religions and cultures live here. Thus the Parliament approved the Special Marriage Act of 1954 for individuals of India and for every single Indian national of outside nations, irrespective of rank or religion. The one of a kind aspect of the Special Marriage Act of 1954 is that any marriage solemnized in any other manner under any other law, Indian or nonnative, between any two persons may be enlisted under the Act, With the enactment of a competent version of the Special Marriage Act, the individuals would marry the person of their choice irrespective of their caste, community, religion or societal taboo. Keeping in mind the outrage of the community, the Special marriage Marriage intended to protect the couple to all possible extents.

The Act laid provisions for the valid marriage, void marriage, voidable marriage, procedure for registration, grounds for divorce, maintenance, the status of the children and remarriage. The objective was to provide a uniform code that could lessen the disparity running deep in the society and eating it up like termite.