Marriage Certificates

A marriage which has already been solemnised can be registered either under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 or under the Special Marriage Act, 1954. The Hindu Marriage Act is applicable in cases where both husband and wife are Hindus, Buddhists, Jains or Sikhs or where they have converted into any of these religions. Where either of the husband or wife or both are not Hindus, Buddhists, Jains or Sikhs the marriage is registered under the Special Marriage Act, 1954.

Further, marriage can be solemnised between any two persons under the provisions of the Special Marriage Act, 1954.

Registration of Marriages which have already been solemnised.

Q. Am I eligible for Registration / Solemnization of Marriage?

If you are already married and both you and your spouse are Hindu, Buddhism, Jain or Sikhs and both had attained the age of 21 yrs. on the date of marriage and you or your spouse ordinarily resides in revenue district west, your are eligible for Registration of Marriage. If either you or your spouse had not attained the age of 21 yrs but had attained the age of 18 yrs on the date of marriage, you are eligible for registration of your marriage with the consent given by guardian of the person who had not attained the age of 21 yrs. on the date of marriage.

You are eligible for solemnization of marriage if both the parties to intended marriage have attaned the age of 21 yrs., are not related to each other within the degrees of prohibited relationship and atleast one party resides in revenue district west.

Q. Where do I have to go and during which hours?

To the office of Additional District Magistrate(West), Old Middle School Building, Lawrence Road, Rampura, Delhi-110035. Tel No. 27151542 provided any of the husband or wife resides in the jurisdiction of West District, during 9.30 a.m. to 1.00 Noon on any working day.

Q. Which papers/documents/fees, do I take with me?

1. Application form duly signed by both husband and wife.
2. Documentary evidence of date of birth of parties (Matriculation Certificate / Birth Certificate) Minimum age of both parties is 21 years at the time of registration under the Special Marriage Act.
3. Election I-card of husband or wife whose area SDM has been approached for the certificate.
4. In case of Special Marriage Act, documentary evidence regarding stay in Delhi of the parties for more than 30 days (Election I card or report from the concerned SHO).
5. Affidavit by both the parties stating place and date of marriage, date of birth, marital status at the time of marriage and nationality.
6. Two passport size photographs of both the parties and one marriage photograph.
7. Marriage invitation card, if available.
8. If marriage was solemnized in a religious place, a certificate from the priest is required who solemnized the marriage.
9. Rs. 100/- in case of Hindu Marriage Act and Rs.150/- in case of Special Marriage Act to be deposited with the cashier of District and the receipt should be attached with the application form.
10. Affirmation that the parties are not related to each other within the prohibited degree of relationship as per Hindu Marriage Act or Special Marriage Act as the case may be.
11. Attested copy of divorce decree/order in case of a divorcee and death certificate of spouse in case of widow/widower.
12. In case one of the parties belong to other than Hindu, Budhist, Jain and Sikh religions, a conversion certificate from the priest who solemnized the marriage(in case of Hindu Marriage Act).

All documents excluding receipt should be attested by a Gazetted Officer.

Q. What will be the criteria used while deciding my case?

A) Hindu Marriage Act

Verification of all the documents is carried out on the date of application and a day is fixed and communicated to the parties for registration. On the said day, both parties, alongwith a Gazetted Officer who identifies the parties to marriage, need to be present before the Registrar of Marriage. The Certificate is issued on the same day.

B) Special Marriage Act

The parties to intended marriage need to give the notice for intended marriage to the marriage officer / ADM(West) in prescribed formate and enclosing all required documents viz. proof of age, proof of residence(Election I Card) & affidavits. Copy of notice for intended marriage can be obtained from from the Office of the Additional District Magistrate(West), Old Middle School Building, Rampura, Delhi-110035. On the date given to the parties, the marriage officer on being satisfied about bonafide and credentials of appllicants accepts the notice. The notice is displayed on conspicuous place (Notice Board) in office of ADM(West) and, in case, one of marriage parties resides outside the jurisdiction of revenue district west, Delhi the dame is sent to the concerned marriage officer for display and for inviting objections from public. If no objections are received within 30 days the marriage is solemnized after 30 days. In case of receipt of objections, the same are disposed off first and solemnization is subject to outcome of such objections. Both parties alongwith three witnesses are required to be present on the date of registration.

Q. How much time is taken for registration of marriage?

Registration of already solemnized marriage is usually done within 2-8 days from the receipt of application. Solemnization of marriages under Special marriage act is done within 7-10 days after expiry of statutory period of 30 days for display & receipt of objections.

Solemnisation of Marriage under Special Marriage Act

Special Marriage Act, 1954 provides for solemnisation of marriages in accordance with the provisions of the Act. SDMs/ADMs/Deputy Commissioners have been authorised as Marriage Officers for this purpose.

Q. Where do I have to go and during which hours?

To the office of Additional District Magistrate, Old Middle School Building, Lawrence Road, Rampura, Delhi-110035. Tel No. 27151542 provided any of the husband or wife resides in the jurisdiction of West District, during 9.30 a.m. to 1.00 Noon on any working day.

Q. Which papers/documents/fees, do I take with me?

1. Application form duly filled and signed by the bride and the groom.
2. Fee of Rs.150/- is to be deposited with cashier of District and the receipt should be attached with the form.
3. Documentary evidence of date of birth of both parties (Matriculation Certificate/Passport/Birth Certificate).
4. Documentary evidence regarding stay in Delhi of one of the parties for more than 30 days (Election I card or report from the concerned SHO).
5. Separate affidavits from bride and groom giving:
1. Date of birth.
2. Present marital status: unmarried/widower/ divorcee.
3. Affirmation that the parties are not related to each other within the degree of prohibited relationship defined in the Special Marriage Act.
6. Passport size photographs of both parties (2 copies each) duly attested by a Gazetted Officer.
7. Copy of divorce decree/order in case of a divorcee and death certificate of spouse in case of widow/widower.

Q. What will be the criteria used while deciding my case?

For solemnization of marriage, presence of both parties is required after submission of documents of issuance of notice of intended marriage. A copy of the notice is pasted on the office notice board by the Registrar of Marriage. Any person may within 30 days of issue of notice , file objection to the intended marriages. In such a case, the Registrar of Marriages shall not solemnise the marriage until he has decided the objection, within 30 days of its receipt. If the Registrar of Marriages refuses to solemnise the marriage, any of the parties may file an appeal within 30 days to the District Court. In case no objection is received, the Registrar of Marriages solemnises the marriage after 30 days of the notice. Both parties alongwith 3 witnesses are required to be present on the date of solemnisation of marriage. It is advisable to submit names of witnesses atleast one day in advance.

Degree of Prohibited relationship as per the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955

Section 3 (f):

         i.             "Sapinda relationship" with reference to any person extends as far as the third generation (inclusive) in the line of ascent through the mother, and the fifth (inclusive) in the line of ascent through the father, the line being traced upwards in each case from the person concerned, who is to be counted as the first generation;

       ii.             two persons are said to "sapindas" of each other if one is a lineal ascendant of the other within the limits of sapinda relationship, or if they have a common lineal ascendant who is within the limits of sapinda relationship with reference to each of them;

Section 3 (g):

"degrees of prohibited relationship" – two persons are said to be within the "degrees of prohibited relationship" –

1. if one is a lineal ascendant of the other; or
2. if one was the wife or husband of a lineal ascendant or descendant of the other; or
3. if one was the wife of the brother or the father’s or mother’s brother or of the grandfather’s or grandmother’s brother of the other; or
4. if the two are brother and sister, uncle and niece, aunt and nephew, or children of brother and sister or of two brothers or of two sisters;

Explanation – For the purposes of clauses 3(f) and 3(g), relationship includes –

                                 i.             relationship by half or uterine blood as well as by full blood;

                               ii.             illegitimate blood relationship as well as legitimate;

                              iii.             relationship by adoption as well as by blood;

and all terms of relationship in those clauses shall be construed accordingly.

Degrees of Prohibited relationship as per the Special Marriage Act, 1954

Section 2 (b):

"Degrees of prohibited relationship" – a man and any of the persons mentioned in Part I of the First Schedule and a woman and any of the persons mentioned in Part II of the said Schedule are within the degrees of prohibited relationship.

Explanation (I) – Relationship includes, --

a.      relationship by half or uterine blood as well as by full blood;

b.      illegitimate blood relationship as well as legitimate;

c.       relationship by adoption as well as by blood;

and all terms of relationship in this Act shall be construed accordingly.

Explanation (II) – "Full blood" and "half blood" – two persons are said to be related to each other by full blood when they are descended from a common ancestor by the same wife and by half blood when they are descended from a common ancestor but by different wives.

Explanation (III) – "Uterine blood" – two persons are said to be related to each other by uterine blood when they are descended from a common ancestress but by different husbands.

Explanation (IV) – In Explanations II and III, "ancestor" includes the father and "ancestress" the mother;

THE FIRST SCHEDULE [ DEGREE OF PROHIBITED RELATIONSHIP]

PART – I

Mother.
Father’s widow (step mother).
Mother’s mother.
Mother’s father’s widow (step grand-mother).
Mother’s mother’s mother.
Mother’s mother’s father’s widow (step great grand-mother).
Mothers’s father’s mother.
Mother’s father’s father’s widow (step great grand-mother).
Father’s mother.
Father’s father’s widow (step grand-mother).
Father’s mother’s mother.
Father’s mother’s father’s widow (step great grand-mother).
Father’s father’s mother.
Father’s father’s father’s widow (step great grand-mother).
Daughter.
Son’s widow.
Daughter’s daughter.
Daughter’s son’s widow.
Son’s daughter.
Son’s son’s widow.
Daughter’s daughter’s daughter.
Daughter’s daughter’s son’s widow.
Daughter’s son’s daughter.
Daughter’s son’s son’s widow.
Son’s daughter’s daughter.
Son’s daughter’s son’s widow.
Son’s son’s daughter.
Son’s son’s son’s widow.
Sister.
Sister’s daughter.
Brother’s daughter.
Mother’s sister.
Father’s sister.
Father’s brother’s daughter.
Father’s sister’s daughter.
Mother’s sister’s daughter.
Mother’s brother’s daughter.

Explanation – For the purposes of this Part, the expression "widow" includes a divorced wife.

PART – II

Father.
Mother’s husband (step-father).
Father’s father.
Father’s mother’s husband (step grand-father).
Father’s father’s father.
Father’s father’s mother’s husband (step great grand-father).
Father’s mother’s father.
Father’s mother’s mother’s husband (step great grand-father).
Mother’s father.
Mother’s mother’s husband (step grand-father).
Mother’s father’s father.
Mother’s father’s mother’s husband (step great grand-father).
Mother’s mother’s father.
Mother’s mother’s mother’s husband (step great grand-father).
Son.
Daughter’s husband.
Son’s son.
Son’s daughter’s husband.
Daughter’s son.
Daughter’s daughter’s husband.
Son’s son’s son.
Son’s son’s daughter’s husband.
Son’s daughter’s son.
Son’s daughter’s daughter’s husband.
Daughter’s son’s son.
Daughter’s son’s daughter’s husband.
Daughter’s daughter’s son.
Daughter’s daughter’s daughter’s husband.
Brother.
Brother’s son.
Sister’s son.
Mother’s brother.
Father’s brother.
Father’s brother’s son.
Father’s sister’s son.
Mother’s sister’s son.
Mother’s brother’s son.

Explanation – For the purposes of this Part, the expression "husband" includes a divorced husband.