Role of Notice under Special Marriage Act

Recently in the case of S. Sarath Kumar v The District Collector and Another, The Madras High Court observed that the conditions provided under Section 4 of the Special Marriage Act and the procedure thereof mentioned in the Sections 5-13 have to be mandatorily complied with, thereby denying the application for the registration of the marriage under the Act.

In the present case, the procedure under Sec 5 was breached, i.e.” notice of intended marriage”, the Bench of Justice GR Swaminathan observed, that there is a sequence provided and the procedure shall be followed as such. In the present case parties performed the so- called marriage and then gave notice under section 5 of the Act. As the language of the Section 5 clearly states, the petitioner did not marry Ms. Lediya under The Special Marriage Act, 1954. And thus cannot avail the benefits provided under Section 4 of the Act.

Facts of the case:

• The petitioner belonged to the Scheduled caste. He married Ms Lediya who was a christian. They married on 10.06.2022 in the presence of the local Panchayat President and a Political figure. 
• Later, they filed a joint application, under Section 5 of the Special Marriage Act on 17.06.2022.
• However, the Registrar informed the couple that the application couldn’t be filed as Ms. Lediya has yet to turn 21.
• Result of which, the petitioner approached the High Court, contending that under Section 4(c) of the Act, marriage can be solemnised between two persons when the male has turned 21 and the female has turned 18 years of age.

Observations of the court:

• The  Court observed that the marriage performed by the couple was a Self Respect marriage. 
• The Suyamariyathai and Seerthiruththa marriages (reformist/ self respect marriages) are provided for under Section 7-A of the Hindu Marriage Act, however the marriage shall be performed between two hindus.
• While in the present case, Ms. Lediya was a christian. Thus, the marriage could not be solemnised under the Hindu Marriage Act. Also the marriage was not solemnised under the Indian Christian Act, 1872. 

Judgment:

• The Court noted that for the marriage to be solemnised under Chapter II of the Act, the age of the female shall be 18 years while for male it is 21 years.
• However, in the present case, marriage was performed on 10.06.2022, after which notice was given under Section 5 of the Act. 
• The petitioner did not marry  Lediya under the Special Marriage Act, thus could not claim benefits under Section 4 of the Act.
• The Court also analysed Section 15 of the Act, which provides for marriages performed in different forms.  

Section 15 states that- “Registration of marriages celebrated in other forms- Any marriage celebrated before or after the commencement of this Act, other than a marriage solemnised under the Special Marriage Act, 1872 or under this Act, may be registered under this Chapter by a Magistrate Officer in the territories to which this Act extends even if the following conditions are fulfilled, namely:….

….(d) the parties have completed the age of twenty-one years at the time of registration.”

• Since the marriage was not solemnised under the Special Marriage Act, it came within the purview of Section 15 of the Act, which provides for registration of marriage if the parties are more than 21 years old at the time of registration.
• Hence, it was decided that the registrar’s reason for declining the registration was correct.
• However, sympathising with the petitioner, the Court advised the petitioner to follow the procedure provided under the Act, so the Registrar could not refuse the registration on the ground that  Ms. Lediya has not yet turned 21 years old.