Christian Marriage Act, 1872

Deals with law relating to the solemnization in India of the marriages of Christians.

Christian Marriage Act, 1872

[Act 15 of 1872]         [18th July, 1872]

An Act to consolidate and amend the law relating to the solemnization in India of the marriages of Christians

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.

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

Extent.—[i][It extends to the whole of India [ii][except [iii][the territories which, immediately before the 1st November, 1956, were comprised in the States] of Travancore-Cochin, Manipur [iv][* * *]].]

[v][* * *]

2. Enactments repealed.

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 Enactments repealed.—[Rep.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

3. Interpretation clause.

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

“Church of England” and “Anglican” mean 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” mean and apply to the Church which regards the Pope of Rome as its spiritual head;

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

[vi][“India” means the [vii][territories] to which this Act extends;

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

[viii][* * *]

the expression “Christian” means persons professing the Christian religion;

[ix][and the expression “Indian Christians” includes the Christian descendants of natives of India converted to Christianity, as well as such converts];

[x][“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).]

It has been extended to Union territory of Pondicherry by the Pondicherry (Extension of Laws) Act, 1968 (26 of 1968) subject to the following proviso:

“Provided that nothing contained in this Act shall apply to the Renoncants of the Union territory of Pondicherry.”

Part I

THE PERSONS BY WHOM MARRIAGES MAY BE SOLEMNIZED

4. Marriages to be solemnized according to Act.

4. Marriages to be solemnized according to Act.—Every marriage between persons, one or both of whom is [xi][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.

5. Persons by whom marriages may be solemnized.—Marriages may be solemnized in [xii][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 [xiii][Indian] Christians.

6. Grant and revocation of licences to solemnize marriages.

[xiv][6. Grant and revocation of licences to solemnize marriages.—The State Government, so far as regards the territories under its administration, [xv][* * *] may, by notification in the Official Gazette [xvi][* * *], grant licences to Ministers of Religion to solemnize marriages within such territories [xvii][* * *] and may, by a like notification, revoke such licences.]

7. Marriage Registrars.

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.

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

9. Licensing of persons to grant certificates of marriage between Indian Christians.

9. Licensing of persons to grant certificates of marriage between Indian Christians.—The State Government [xviii][* * *] may grant a licence to any Christian, either by name or as holding any office for the time being, authorizing him to grant certificates of marriage between [xix][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.

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 other 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 or Vicariate in which such marriage is so solemnized, or from such person as the same Bishop has authorized to grant such licence, [xx][or]

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

11. Place for solemnizing marriage.

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

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

unless he has received a special licence 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 the said Bishop from time to time authorizes.

Part III

MARRIAGES SOLEMNIZED BY MINISTERS OF RELIGION LICENSED UNDER THIS ACT

12. Notice of intended marriage.

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;

(c) the time during which each has dwelt there; and

(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.

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 person 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 certificate 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.

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.

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 authorized to give such consent by resident in India.

20. Power to prohibit by notice issue of certificate.

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.

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