In India, court-supervised marriages are now frequent and are governed by the Special Marriage Act of 1954. No consideration is given to the partners’ socioeconomic background, race, religion, or sect when a marriage is arranged by the court. For couples who desire to get married but practice different religions, court marriage is an additional alternative. A judicial marriage is equivalent to the legalization of marriage, to put it broadly.
Court-arranged unions can also occur between members of different castes or religions. Couples who meet the conditions can formally request a wedding certification from the Marriage Registrar. The ideal option for the parties going through a court marriage is to hire a marriage lawyer in Delhi because the entire process involves a lot of legal documentation.
State-Mandated Requirements For Marriage
- To begin with, during the time they were married to each other, neither party could have been the other’s, legal spouse.
- The bride’s spouse must be at least 21 years old, and the daughter must be at least 18 years old.
- The people must have adequate mental capacity.
- They must be of legal age to offer their valid consent at the time of the marriage.
- It is anticipated that none of the applicants will have a mental illness or be insane.
- There can be no relationship of any type between the applicants and the prohibited entity. Two people who aren’t supposed to be together can nevertheless get married in a legal ceremony if their culture permits it.
Documentation Checklist Required For Court-Ordered Marriage
The following paperwork is required for a marriage to be legally recognized:
- The request form must bear the signatures of both applicants.
- Both candidates must provide evidence proving their ages.
- Two pictures of the couple in the size needed for passports; documentation of the applicant’s place of residence
- If the couple was previously married, evidence of their status must be provided in the form of either a death certificate or a divorce decision.
- Proof that the required payments for the District Court request form have been paid, as shown by the supporting documentation.
- A statement from the applicants stating that they are not linked to one another in a way that would contravene the Special Marriage Act’s definition of a relationship that is forbidden.
The Process Of Getting Married Legally
The procedure for requesting a marriage license from the court consists of a total of five steps.
1. Marriage Notification
The future couple must first get in touch with the district’s marriage registrar to begin the process. Both parties who wish to enter into the marriage shall give written notice of their intention to marry to the Marriage Registrar by the procedure outlined in Schedule 2.
2. Publicize The Notification
The Marriage Registrar shall attach the notification to a particularly conspicuous area inside his department after the notification has been posted. Additionally, there is a 30-day waiting period before filing any form of complaint. The registrar will conduct the wedding if there are no objections.
3. Criticizing The Marriage
Any person has the right to object to the marriage within the thirty days specified in Article 7 if a judicial marriage would violate any of the standards listed in Section 4 of the Act. But the objection must be justified by legal grounds; it cannot be based on subjective considerations. Section 8 requires the Marriage Officer to investigate any objections within thirty days and to carry out the wedding if it can be established that the objection does not prevent it from happening.
4. Participants And Witnesses Must Make Declarations
There must be a minimum of three witnesses present for the court marriage procedure in Delhi to continue. Both participants and three witnesses must sign and declare by the Third Schedule’s instructions in front of the Registrar.
5. The Marriage Certificate’s Issuance
The person in charge of marriage registration will issue the marriage certificate once all of these procedures have been completed. The married couple and three witnesses must all properly sign this certification. Such a certification is conclusive proof of legal matrimony that cannot be disputed in any way.
