The Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872

Preamble. - Whereas it is expedient to consolidate and amend the law relating to the solemnization in India of the marriages of persons professing the Christian religion; It is hereby enacted as follows:

PRELIMINARY

1. Short title. - This Act may be called the Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872.

Extent. - It extends to the whole of India except the territories which, immediately before the 1st November, 1956, were comprised in the States of Travancore-Cochin, Manipur and Jammu and Kashmir.

2. Enactments repealed. - [Rep. by the Repealing Act, 1938 (1 of 1938), Section 2 and Sch., Pt. I].

3. Interpretation-clause. - In this Act, unless there is something repugnant in the subject or context, -

"Church of England" and "Anglican" means and apply to the Church of England as by law established;

"Church of Scotland" means the Church of Scotland as by law established;

"Church of Rome" and "Roman Catholic" means and apply to the Church which regards to Pope of Rome as its spiritual head;

"Church" includes any chapel or other building generally used for public Christian worship;

"India" means the territories to which this Act extends;

"minor" means a person who has not completed the age of of twenty-one years and who is not a widower or a widow;

the expression "Christians" means persons professing the Christian religion;

and the expression "Indian Christians" includes the Christian descendants of natives of India converted to Christianity, as well as such converts;

"Registrar General of Births, Deaths and Marriages" means a Registrar General of Births, Deaths and Marriages appointed under the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act, 1886 (6 of 1886).

Comments

Any person professing the christian religion although he has not been baptised is a Christian for the purposes of the Act. (K.J.B. David v. Nilamani Devi, AIR 1953 Orissa 10).

PART I

THE PERSONS BY WHOM MARRIAGES MAY BE SOLEMNIZED

4. Marriages to be solemnized according to Act. - Every marriage between persons, one or both of whom is or are a Christian, or Christians, shall be solemnized in accordance with the provisions of the next following section; and any such marriage solemnized otherwise than in accordance with such provisions shall be void.

5. Persons by whom marriages may be solemnized. - Marriages may be solemnized in India -

(1) by any person who has received episcopal ordination, provided that the marriage be solemnized according to the rules, rites, ceremonies and customs of the Church of which he is a Minister;

(2) by any Clergyman of the Church of Scotland, provided that such marriage be solemnized according to the rules, rites, ceremonies and customs of the Church of Scotland;

(3) by any Minister of Religion licensed under this Act to solemnize marriages;

(4) by, or in the presence of, a Marriage Registrar appointed under this Act;

(5) by any person licensed under this Act to grant certificates of marriage between Indian Christians.

Comments

"Solemnised" in Section 5 means "celebrated" and refers to ceremonies only.

If a marriage is not solemnised in accordance with the provisions of Section 5 of the Indian Christian Marriage Act, it would enable the Court to declare such marriage as null and void. (Mariasoosai v. Clara Mary, AIR 1995 Madras 35 : 1995 (1) HLR 275 (S.B.).

6. Grant and revocation of licenses to solemnize marriages. - The State Government, so far as regards territories under its administration, may, by notification in the Official Gazette, grant licences to Ministers of Religion to solemnize marriages within such territories and may, by a like notification, revoke such licences.

7. Marriage Registrars. - The State Government may appoint one or more Christians, either by name or as holding any office for the time being, to be the Marriage Registrar of Marriage Registrars for any district subject to its administration.

Senior Marriage Registrar. - Where there are more Marriage Registrars than one in any district, the State Government shall appoint one of them to be the Senior Marriage Registrar.

Magistrate when to be Marriage Registrar. - When there is only one Marriage Registrar in a district, and such Registrar is absent from such district, or ill, or when his office is temporarily vacant, the Magistrate of the district shall act as, and be, Marriage Registrar thereof during such absence, illness, or temporary vacancy.

8. Marriage Registrars in Indian States. - [Rep. by A.O. 1950].

9. Licensing of persons to grant certificates of marriage between Indian Christians. - The State Government may grant a license to any Christian either by name or as holding any office for the time being, authorizing him to grant certificates of marriage between Indian Christians.

Any such licence may be revoked by the authority by which it was granted and every such grant or revocation shall be notified in the Official Gazette.

PART II

TIME AND PLACE AT WHICH MARRIAGES MAY BE SOLEMNIZED

10. Time for solemnizing marriage. - Every marriage under this Act shall be solemnized between the hours of six in the morning and seven in the evening:

Exceptions. - Provided that nothing in this section shall apply to -

(1) a Clergyman of the Church of England solemnizing a marriage under a special licence permitting him to do so at any hour than between six in the morning and seven in the evening, under the hand and seal of the Anglican Bishop of the Diocese or his Commissary, or

(2) a Clergyman of the Church of Rome solemnizing a marriage between the hours of seven in the evening and six in the morning, when he has received a general or special licence in that behalf from the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Vicariate in which such marriage is so solemnized, or from such person as the same Bishop has authorised to grant such licence, or

(3) a Clergyman of the Church of the Scotland solemnizing a marriage according to the rule, rites, ceremonies and customs of the Church of Scotland.

11. Place for solemnizing marriage. - No Clergyman of the Church of England shall solemnize a marriage in any place other than a church where worship is generally held according to the forms of the Church of England],

unless there is no such church within five miles distance by the shortest road from such place, or

unless he has received a special license authorizing him to do so under the hand and seal of the Anglican Bishop of the Diocese or his Commissary.

Fee for special licence. - For such special licence, the Registrar of the Diocese may charge such additional fee as he said Bishop from time to time authorizes.

PART III

MARRIAGES SOLEMNIZED BY MINISTERS OF RELIGION LICENSED UNDER THIS ACT

12. Notice of intended marriage. - Whenever a marriage is intended to be solemnized by a Minister of Religion licensed to solemnize marriages under this Act -

One of the persons intending marriage shall give notice in writing according to the form contained in the First Schedule hereto annexed, or to the like effect, to the Minister of Religion whom he or she desires to solemnize the marriage, and shall state therein -

(a) the name and surname, and the profession or condition, of each of the persons intending marriage,

(b) the dwelling-place of each of them.

(d) the church or private dwelling in which the marriage is to be solemnized:

Provided that, if either of such persons has dwelt in the place mentioned in the notice during more than one month, it may be stated therein that he or she has dwelt there one month and upwards.

13. Publication of such notice. - If the persons intending marriage desire it to be solemnized in a particular church, and if the Minister of Religion to whom such notice has been delivered be entitled to officiate therein, he shall cause the notice to be affixed in some conspicuous part of such church.

Return or transfer of notice. - But if he is not entitled to officiate as a Minister in such church, he shall, at his option, either return the notice to the persons who delivered it to him, or deliver it to some other Minister entitled to officiate therein, who shall thereupon cause the notice to be affixed as aforesaid.

14. Notice of intended marriage in private dwelling. - If it be intended that the marriage shall be solemnized in a private dwelling, the Minister of Religion, on receiving the notice prescribed in Section 12, shall forward it to the Marriage Registrar of the district, who shall affix the same to some conspicuous place in his own office.

15. Sending copy of notice to Marriage Registrar when one party is a minor. - When one of the persons intending marriage is a minor, every Minister receiving such notice shall, unless within twenty-four hours after its receipt he returns the same under the provisions of section 13, send by the post or otherwise a copy of such notice to the Marriage Registrar of the district, or, if there be more than one Registrar of such district, to the Senior Marriage Registrar.

16. Procedure on receipt of notice. - The Marriage Registrar or Senior Marriage Registrar, as the case may be, on receiving any such notice, shall affix it to some conspicuous place in his own office, and the latter shall further cause a copy of the said notice to be sent to each of the other Marriage Registrars in the same district who shall likewise publish the same in the manner above directed.

17. Issue of certificate of notice given and declaration made. - Any Minister of Religion consenting or intending to solemnize any such marriage as aforesaid, shall on being required so to do by or on behalf of the person by whom the notice was given, and upon one of the persons intending marriage making the declaration hereinafter required, issue under his hand a certificate of such notice having been given and of such declaration having been made:

Proviso. - Provided -

(1) that no such certificates shall be issued until the expiration of four days after the date of the receipt of the notice by such Minister;

(2) that no lawful impediment be shown to his satisfaction why such certificate should not issue; and

(3) that the issue of such certificate has not been forbidden, in manner hereinafter mentioned, by any person authorized in that behalf.

18. Declaration before issue of certificate. - The certificate mentioned in Section 17 shall not be issued until one of the persons intending marriage has appeared personally before the Minister and made a solemn declaration -

(a) that he or she believes that there is not any impediment of kindred or affinity, or other lawful hindrance, to the said marriage,

and, when either or both of the parties is or are a minor or minors -

(b) that the consent or consents required by law has or have been obtained thereto, or that there is no person resident in India having authority to give such consent, as the case may be.

19. Consent of father or guardian or mother. - The father, if living, of any minor, or if the father be dead, the guardian of the person of such minor, and, in case there be no such guardian, then the mother of such minor, may give consent to the minor's marriage,

and such consent is hereby required for the same marriage, unless no person authorised to give such consent be resident in India.

Comments

Where the marriage of a girl above 18 years but below 21 and belonging to Roman Catholic Church is solemnised by a Minister belonging to the Church, the marriage does not become null and void on the ground that the consent of the girl's parents is not taken. (Lakshmi Sanyal v. S.K. Dhar, AIR 1972 S.C. 2667).

20. Power to prohibit by notice issue of certificate. - Every person whose consent to a marriage is required under Section 19, is hereby authorized to prohibit the issue of the certificate by any Minister, at any time before the issue of the same, by notice in writing to such Minister, subscribed by the person so authorized with his or her name and place of abode and position with respect to either of the persons intending marriage, by reason of which he or she is so authorized as aforesaid.

21. Procedure on receipt of notice. - If any such notice be received by such Minister, he shall not issue his certificate and shall not solemnize the said marriage until he was examined into the matter of the said prohibition, and is satisfied that the person prohibiting the marriage has no lawful authority for such prohibition,

or until the said notice is withdrawn by the person who gave it.

22. Issue of certificate in case of minority. - When either of the person intending marriage is a minor, and the Minister is not satisfied that the consent of the person whose consent to such marriage is required by Section 19 has been obtained, such Minister shall not issue such certificate until the expiration of fourteen days after the receipt by him of the notice of marriage.

23. Issue of certificates of Indian Christians. - When any Indian Christian about to be married makes a notice of marriage to a Minister of Religion, or applies for a certificate from such Minister under Section 17, such Minister shall, before issuing the certificate, ascertain whether such Indian Christian is cognizant of the purport and effect of the said notice or certificate, the case may be, and if not, shall translate or cause to be translated the notice or certificate to such Indian Christian into some language which he understands.

24. Form of certificate. - The certificate to be issued by the Minister shall be in the form contained in the Second Schedule hereto annexed, or to the like effect.

25. Solemnization of marriage. - After the issue of the certificate by the Minister, marriage may be solemnized between the persons therein described according to such form or ceremony as the Minister thinks fit to adopt:

Provided that the marriage be solemnized in the presence of at least two witnesses besides the Minister.

26. Certificate void if marriage not solemnized within two months. - Whenever a marriage is not solemnized within two months after the date of the certificate issued by such Minister as aforesaid, such certificate and all proceedings (if any) thereon shall be void,

and no person shall proceed to solemnize the said marriage until new notice has been given, and a certificate thereof issued in manner aforesaid.

PART IV

REGISTRATION OF MARRIAGES SOLEMNIZED BY MINISTER OR RELIGION

27. Marriages when to be registered. - All marriages thereafter solemnized in India between persons one or both of whom professes or profess the Christian religion, except marriages solemnized under Part V or Part VI of this Act, shall be registered in manner hereinafter prescribed.

28. Registration of marriages solemnized by Clergymen of Church of England. - Every Clergyman of the Church of England shall keep a register of marriages and shall register therein, according to the tabular form set forth in the Third Schedule hereto annexed, every marriage which he solemnizes under this Act.

29. Quarterly returns to Archdeaconry. - Every Clergyman of the Church of England shall send four times in every year returns in duplicate authenticated by his signature, of the entries in the register of marriages solemnized at any place where he has any spiritual charge, to the Registrar of the Archdeaconry to which he is subject, or within the limits of which such place is situate.

Contents of returns. - Such quarterly returns shall contain all the entries of marriages contained in the said register from the first day of January to the thirty first day of March, from the first day of April to the thirtieth day of June, from the first day of July to the thirtieth day of September and from the first day of October to the thirty-first day of December, of each year, respectively, and shall be sent by such Clergyman within two weeks from the expiration of each of the quarters above specified.

The said Registrar upon receiving the said returns shall send one copy thereof to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

30. Registration and returns of marriages solemnized by Clergymen of Church of Rome. - Every marriage solemnized by a Clergyman of the Church of Rome shall be registered by the person according to the form directed in that behalf by the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese or Vicariate in which such marriage is solemnized,

and such person shall forward quarterly to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages returns of the entries of all marriages registered by him during the three months next preceding.

31. Registration and returns of marriages solemnized by Clergymen of Church of Scotland. - Every Clergyman of the Church of Scotland shall keep a register of marriages,

and shall register therein, according to the tabular form set forth in the Third Schedule hereto annexed, every marriage which he solemnizes under this Act,

and shall forward quarterly to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, through the Senior Chaplain of the Church of Scotland, returns, similar to those prescribed in Section 29, of all such marriages.

32. Certain marriages to be registered in duplicate. - Every marriage solemnized by any person who has received episcopal ordination, but who is not a Clergyman of the Church of England, or of the Church of Rome, or by any Minister of Religion licensed under this Act to solemnize marriages, shall immediately after the solemnization thereof, be registered in duplicate by the person solemnizing the same; (that is to say) in a marriage register-book to be kept by him for that purpose, according to the form contained in the Fourth Schedule hereto annexed, and also in a certificate attached to the marriage-register book as a counterfoil.

33. Entries of such marriages to be signed and attested. - The entry of such marriage in both the certificate and marriage-register-book shall be signed by the person solemnizing the marriage, and also by the persons married, and shall be attested by two credible witnesses other than the person solemnizing the marriage, present at its solemnization.

Every such entry shall be made in order from the beginning to the end of the book, and the number of the certificate shall correspond with that of the entry in the marriage-register-book.

34. Certificate to be forwarded to Marriage Registrar, copied and sent to Registrar-General. - The person solemnizing the marriage shall forthwith separate the certificate from the marriage-register-book and send it, within one month from the time of the solemnization, to the Marriage Registrar of the district in which the marriage was solemnized, or, if there be more Marriage Registrars than one, to the Senior Marriage Registrar,

who shall cause such certificate to be copied into a book to be kept by him for that purpose,

and shall send all the certificates which he has received during the month with such number and signature of initials added thereto as are hereafter acquired to, to the Registrar General of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

35. Copies of certificates to be entered and numbered. - Such copies shall be entered in order from the beginning to the end of the said book, and shall bear both the number of the certificate as copied, and also a number to be entered by the Marriage Registrar, indicating the number of the entry of the said copy of the said book, according to the order in which he receives each certificates.

36. Registrar to add number of entry to certificate, and send to Registrar-General. - The Marriage Registrar shall also add such last mentioned number of the entry of the copy in the book to the certificate, with his signature or initials, and shall, at the end of every month, send the same to the Registrar General of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

37. Registration of marriages between Indian Christians by persons referred to in clauses (1), (2) and (3) of Section 5. - When any marriage between Indian Christians is solemnized by any such person, Clergyman or Minister of Religion as is referred to in clause (1), clause (2) or clause (3) of Section 5, the person solemnizing the same shall, instead of proceeding in the manner provided by Sections 28 to 36, both inclusive, register the marriage in a separate register-book and shall keep it safely until it is filled, or, if he leaves the district in which he solemnized the marriage before the said book is filled, shall make over the same to the person succeeding to his duties in the said district.

Custody and disposal of register-book. - Whoever has the control of the book at the time when it is filled, shall send it to the Marriage Registrar of the district, or, if there be more Marriage Registrars than one, to the Senior Marriage Registrar, who shall send it to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, to be kept by him with the records of his office.

PART V

MARRIAGES SOLEMNIZED BY, OR IN THE PRESENCE OF, A MARRIAGE REGISTRAR

38. Notice of intended marriage before Marriage Registrar. - When a marriage is intended to be solemnized by, or in the presence of a Marriage Registrar, one of the parties to such marriage shall give notice in writing, in the form contained in the First Schedule hereto annexed, or to the like effect; to any Marriage Registrar of the district within which the parties have dwelt,

or if the parties dwell in different districts, shall give the like notice to a Marriage Registrar of each district,

and shall state therein the name and surname, and the profession or condition of each of the parties intending marriage, the dwelling-place of each of them, the time during which each has dwelt therein, and the place at which the marriage is to be solemnized:

Provided that, if either party has dwelt in the place stated in the notice for more than one month, it may be stated therein that he or she has dwelt there one month and upwards.

39. Publication of notice. - Every Marriage Registrar shall, on receiving any such notice, cause a copy thereof to be affixed in some conspicuous place in his office.

When one of the parties intending marriage is a minor, every Marriage Registrar shall, within twenty-four hours after the receipt by him of the notice of such marriage, send, by post or otherwise, a copy of such notice to each of the other Marriage Registrars (if any) in the same district, who shall likewise affix the copy in some conspicuous place in his own office.

40. Notice to be filed and copy entered in Marriage Notice Book. - The Marriage Registrar shall file all such notices and keep them with the records of his office,

and shall also forthwith enter a true copy of all notices in a book to be furnished to him for that purpose by the State Government, and to be called the "Marriage-Notice Book",

and the Marriage Notice Book shall be open at all reasonable times, without fee, to all persons desirous of inspecting the same.

41. Certificate of notice given and oath made. - If the party by whom the notice was given requests the Marriage Registrar to issue the certificate next hereinafter mentioned, and if one of the parties intending marriage has made oath as hereinafter required, the Marriage Registrar shall issue under his hand a certificate of such notice having been given and of such oath having been made:

Proviso. - Provided -

that no lawful impediment be shown to his satisfaction why such certificate should not issue;

that the issue of such certificate has not been forbidden, in manner hereinafter mentioned, by any person authorized in that behalf by this Act;

that four days after the receipt of the notice have expired: and further;

that where, by such oath, it appears that one of the parties intending marriage is a minor, fourteen days after the entry of such notice have expired.

42. Oath before issue of certificate. - The certificate mentioned in Section 41 shall not be issued by any Marriage Registrar, until one of the parties intending marriage appears personally before such Marriage Registrar, and makes oath -

(a) that he or she believes that there is no any impediment of kindred or affinity, or other lawful hindrance, to the said marriage, and

(b) that both the parties have, or (where they have dwelt in the districts of different Marriage Registrars) that the party making such oath has, had their, his or her usual place of abode within the district of such Marriage Registrar,

and, where either or each of the parties is a minor, -

(c) that the consent or consents to such marriage required by law has or have been obtained thereto, or that, there is no person resident in India authorized to give such consent, as the case may be.

43. Petition to High Court to order certificate in less than fourteen days. - When one of the parties intending marriage is a minor, and both such parties are at the time resident in any of the towns of Calcutta, Madras and Bombay, and are desirous of being married in less than fourteen days after the entry of such notice as aforesaid, they may apply by petition to a judge of the High Court, for an order upon the Marriage Registrar to whom the notice of marriage has been given, directing him to issue his certificate before the expiration of the said fourteen days required by Section 41.

Order on petition. - And on sufficient cause being shown, said Judge may, in his discretion, make an order upon such Marriage Registrar, directing him to issue his certificate at any time to be mentioned in the said order before the expiration of the fourteen days so required.

And the said Marriage Registrar, on receipt of the order, shall issue his certificate in accordance therewith.

44. Consent of father or guardian. - The provisions of Section 19 apply to every marriage under this Part, either of the parties to which is a minor:

Protest against issue of certificate. - And any person whose consent to such marriage would be required thereunder may enter a protest against the issue of the Marriage Registrar's certificate, by writing, at any time before the issue of such certificate, the word "forbidden" opposite to the entry of the notice of such intended marriage in Marriage Notice-Book, and by subscribing thereto his or her name and place of abode, and his or her position with respect to either of the parties, by reason of which he or she is so authorized.

Effect of Protest. - When such protest has been entered, no certificate shall issue until the Marriage Registrar has examined into the matter of the protest, and is satisfied that it ought not to obstruct the issue of the certificate for the said marriage, or until the protest be withdrawn by the person who entered it.

45. Petition where person whose consent is necessary is insane or unjustly withholds consent. - If any person whose consent is necessary to any marriage under this Part is of unsound mind

or if any such person (other than the father) without just cause withholds his consent to the marriage,

the parties intending marriage may apply by petition, where the person whose consent is necessary is resident within any of towns of Calcutta, Madras and Bombay, to a Judge of the High Court, or if he is not resident within any of the said towns, then to the District Judge.

Procedure on petition. - And the said Judge of the High Court, or District Judge, as the case may be, may examine the allegations of the petition in a summary way;

and, if upon examination such marriage appears proper such judge of the High Court of District Judge, as the case may be, shall declare the marriage to be a proper marriage.

Such declaration shall be as effectual as if the person whose consent was needed had consented to the marriage;

and if he has forbidden the issue of the Marriage