Don’t need citizenship to register marriage under Special Marriage Act, rules Delhi HC

Delhi High Court has ruled that the Special Marriage Act talks about 'two persons' and not 'citizens'. Therefore, there is no requirement for the party to be a citizen of this country for marriage registration.

New Delhi, Jan 20: In a landmark observation, the High Court of Delhi has said that there is no need to be an Indian citizen to register a marriage under the Special Marriage Act. The observation came as the court is hearing a case from a couple that approached it pleading that despite their residing in India for more than six months, they are unable to register their marriage under the Act.

Hearing the appellant the court observed that a perusal of Section 4 of the Special Marriage Act, 1953, leaves no doubt that any two persons can seek solemnization of their marriage so long as conditions therein are fulfilled. It further opined that the Sub-Sections (a), (b), (c) and (d) of Section 4 do not make any reference to citizens.

As per the case files, the couple has been trying to register their marriage on the official website. However, since they did not have Indian citizenship, they were unable to do it. They approached the High Court for relief after the failed effort.

Any 'two persons' and not 'citizens'

The court was of the view that the provisions of Special Marriage Act do not require at least one of a pair to be an Indian citizen for the purpose of registration of marriage as it is talking about 'persons' and not 'citizens'. Therefore, there is no such requirement for the party to be a citizen for marriage registration, according to Justice Prathiba M. Singh of the Bench.

Hence, the court in its order allowed the Hindu Canadian citizen with OCI card to get his/her marriage with a Christian American citizen registered under the Act. Moreover, the court also observed that the statute had made a clear distinction between 'any two persons' in the initial part.

Going through the merits of the case, the judge further observed that in contradistinction with 'citizens' in Sub-Section (e) of Section 4 of the Act, it is clear that the requirement of at least one party being a citizen of India is not required.

Delivering the appealed relief to the couple, the court also directed the Sub-Divisional Magistrate concerned to follow the law and process the registration under the Act. The judge also held that the Delhi government guideline is also invalid as it is contrary to the statutory provisions of the Special Marriage Act.