Hindu Marriage Act and Special Marriage Act: marriage, registration and divorce

Hindu Marriage Act, 1955

Applies to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs.

Conditions for a valid marriage (section 5): neither party has a living spouse; both can give valid consent; the bridegroom has completed 21 years and the bride 18 years; they are not within the prohibited degrees of relationship or sapindas of each other, unless a custom governing both permits it.

Registration (section 8): the State Government may make rules for registering Hindu marriages to make them easier to prove.

Divorce grounds (section 13(1)) — either spouse may seek divorce if the other, after the marriage:

• had voluntary sexual intercourse with another person;
• treated the petitioner with cruelty;
• deserted the petitioner for a continuous period of at least two years before the petition;
• ceased to be a Hindu by conversion;
• has been incurably of unsound mind, or suffers from a mental disorder such that the petitioner cannot reasonably be expected to live with them;
• suffers from venereal disease in a communicable form;
• renounced the world by entering a religious order;
• has not been heard of as alive for seven years or more.

Divorce by mutual consent (section 13B): both spouses file together, stating they have lived separately for one year or more, cannot live together, and agree to dissolve the marriage. The second motion is made not earlier than six months and not later than eighteen months after filing. The Supreme Court has held the six-month wait can be waived in suitable cases (see the note on landmark marriage judgments).

No divorce petition within one year of marriage (section 14), unless the court allows it on the ground of exceptional hardship to the petitioner or exceptional depravity of the other spouse.

Special Marriage Act, 1954 — civil or inter-faith marriage

Any two persons can marry under this Act, whatever their religion, without either converting.

Conditions (section 4): neither party has a living spouse; both can give valid consent; the man has completed 21 and the woman 18; they are not within the prohibited degrees of relationship (unless a custom governing at least one of them permits it).

Procedure:

1. Notice (section 5): the couple give written notice to the Marriage Officer of the district where at least one of them has lived for at least 30 days before the notice.
2. The notice is entered in the Marriage Notice Book and published.
3. Objections (section 7): anyone may object within 30 days of publication, only on the ground that a condition in section 4 is not met. If there is no objection, the marriage can be solemnised after 30 days.
4. Declaration (section 11): before the marriage, the couple and three witnesses sign a declaration in the Marriage Officer's presence.
5. The Marriage Officer issues a marriage certificate.

Divorce by mutual consent (section 28): the same pattern as the Hindu Marriage Act — both file together after living separately for one year or more, with the second motion after six months.

Practical points

• Divorce petitions go to the Family Court (or the district court where there is none).
• Keep the marriage certificate or proof of marriage, proof of address for both, and photographs ready.
• For maintenance, domestic violence, custody and property, see the notes on marriage and custody, and on domestic violence and maintenance.