Court Marriage & its Procedure.

What is Court Marriage?
A court marriage means that the marriage between a male and female are performed according to the law irrespective of their caste, religion, or creed. When two people opt to get married in the court, there is no need to perform the marriage rituals according to their religion, rather the marriage takes place in court before a Marriage Officer.

Court marriage in India is solemnised as per the Special Marriage Act, 1954 and a marriage certificate is issued by the Marriage Officer in presence of three witnesses.

The procedure of Court Marriage registration 

Court marriage can only be performed if certain conditions are fulfilled. These conditions are as follows: –

1. The bride and bridegroom must not have a living spouse at the time of court marriage.
2. The male has completed the age of 21 years old and the female the age of 18 years.
3. Both the parties must give their consent to the marriage without any force, coercion, or undue influence.
4. The bride and bridegroom must not be within the degrees of prohibited relationships. However, if the customs governing any one of them allows such marriage, the degree of prohibited relationships will not be applicable.

The court marriage procedure includes the following steps: –

1. The bride and groom need to inform the Marriage Officer about their intention to get married and submit a notice.
2. The notice for court marriage must be filed in the prescribed format and with the Marriage Registrar of the district in which any one of them has been living for more than 30 days.
3. The notice of intended marriage is published by the Marriage Registrar to invite any objections against the marriage.
4. After 30 days, the marriage is solemnised in the presence of 03 witnesses and the Marriage Certificate is issued by the Marriage Registrar.

Documents required for Court Marriage.

1. The court marriage application form.
2. The residential Certificate of both the parties.
3. Passport size Photographs of both the parties (Three copies)
4. The receipt of fees to be paid along with the application form.
5. The proof of date of birth of both the parties.
6. Affidavits from the bride and bridegroom that mentions the date of birth, current marital status, and a declaration that the bride and bridegroom are not related to each other within the degree of prohibited relationships mentioned under the Act.

✍ Adv. Dilip Kumar