Procedure for Inter-caste marriage in India.

Q. What is the procedure for inter-caste marriage in India? 

=

Usually, marriage laws are regulated by the personal laws of the religion that the parties to a marriage belong to, but when they differ in religion or wants to get the legal procedure done before the religious rituals, Special Marriage Act comes into the picture.

If anyone wants to opt for court marriage  instead of a marriage with rituals and ceremonies, certain procedures need to be followed. Court marriages have a nature of civil ceremonies for couple belonging to different religions and are governed by the Special Marriage Act,1954. In simple terms Court marriage takes place under 6 steps and these along with the documents required for a court marriage, the necessary conditions to have a valid court marriage is mentioned in the Special Marriage Act, 1954.

_The conditions for getting married under the Special Marriage Act 1954 is provided in Part II, Section 4 of the act._

_The conditions for intercaste marriage are:_

1.  The male or female shouldn’t be married to someone else at the time of the court marriage.

2. Consent should be free and not forced for the marriage.

3. The age of the male for marriage is minimum 21 years and the female should have completed 18 years of age.

4. Both of them should be able to produce children.

5. The parties should not fall under the purview of degrees of prohibited relationship mentioned in schedule I. For example, a father cannot marry his daughter, a mother cannot marry her son, a brother cannot marry his own sister, etc. However, if the parties’ custom allows it, it can be valid once they have proven that it is their custom.

As mentioned before the marriage to be termed as valid in court marriages even if it is inter-caste marriage, there are six steps. These are:

1. *Notice of Intended Marriage-* A written notice showing the ‘intention’ of the couple to marry each other has to be sent to the registrar necessarily. The notice should be sent to the district office of marriage registrar by either of the parties provided that they have lived in that particular district for a minimum period of 30 days. Section 5 of the Special Marriage Act, 1954 provides the necessary details for a valid notice.

2. *Publishing of the notice-* After the notice is received by the marriage officer, it is published by him by putting up the notice in the place allotted in his office, very clear for everyone to see. It is in such a place that it is seen by anyone coming and going out of his office.

3. *Objection to Marriage –* Within 30 days of publishing the notice, anyone can come and say that they object to the marriage. This is mentioned in Section 7 of the act.

4. *Declaration by Parties and Witnesses –* A declaration court marriage form has to be signed in the presence of the marriage registrar where the notice had been sent. And the signing should be done by the couple willing to marry and three witnesses should be present and sign the court marriage form.

5. *Place of Solemnization -* The court marriage can be solemnized at the office of marriage registrar or any other place at a reasonable distance of the office of the marriage registrar as mentioned in Section 12 of the Special Marriage Act. An online application for court marriage is to be filled along with payment of court marriage fees. If one finds difficulty while doing this, hiring a lawyer is the best option.

6. *Court Marriage Certificate -* After the signatures of parties and witnesses, a court marriage certificate is issued which is the proof of a valid marriage of the couple. Provided that the marriage has been solemnized as according to the rules and regulations of court marriage. Schedule IV of the Special Marriage Act gives all the information needed to be filled on the marriage certificate by the marriage registrar. Court fees for court marriages differ from state to state or from one place to another.

Thank you!