Marriage is a sacred tie and last of ten sacraments that can never be broken. Who has the capacity to enter into such a sacred tie mutually promise to live together for the rest of life as Husband and Wife until the termination of that relationship. Marriage creates an environment for cultivation and fulfillment of love. First, lets figure out which are the acts that deals with the marriage in India. In India, we have different marriage acts for different religions.

For Hindus, there is the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, which is also applicable for Jains, Sikhs, and the Buddhists. Muslims they have their own personal law, which states that Nikah according to the Holy Quran itself uses extensively to refer the contract of marriage. For the Parsees, there is a Parsee Marriage & for Indian Christian, there is the Indian Christian Marriage Act 1889.

As per
Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 the Condition, Documents and COST for the Registration of the Marriage

Conditions:
As stated above, that under Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 .It applies to Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists. It is also applicable to the persons if they have converted to any of these religions from any other religion.

1. The first condition according to sec 5 of this act is a marriage that considered valid only if both the parties to the marriage are Hindus. If one of the party to the marriage is a Muslim or a Christian, then the marriage will not be considered as valid Hindu marriage
2.  While, the second point of condition under this act is of age of the bride and the bridegroom. While in the case of bride she must be of 18 years and in the case of the bridegroom, he should be of 21. This means that no man or woman irrespective of the age will not be allowed for registration of marriage.
3. The third point of condition for the valid marriage is that the parties at the time of the registration should not be of unsound mind,
4. The fourth condition is that the parties should not be within the degree of prohibited relationships unless the customs or usage governing each of them permits of a marriage between the two,
5. The fifth condition is that parties are not of Sapindas of each other unless the customs or usage governing each of them permits of a marriage between the two

Documents: Require
Both partners will need to fill in the Application Form, sign it and submit it along with two photographs of the marriage ceremonies, invitation card of marriage, age and address proof of both parties, affidavit of Notary/Executive Magistrate to prove that the couple is married under Hindu Marriage Act 1955, fit mental condition and proof of non-relationship between the parties within the degree of prohibition.

All the documents should be attested by a Gazetted Officer and the parties will have to deposit a fee with the cashier at the sub-registrar and attach the receipt with the Application Form. Once the application has been submitted and the documents verified, the concerned officer will assign a date of registration when the marriage certificate document will be issue.

Cost of Registration:
The cost for the registration is different from state to state. But, the basic cost for the registration of marriage is Rs. 100-200.

Special Marriage Act, 1954

The special marriage act, 1954 is for those who don’t want to marry in a religious way. Who go for other ways rather than religious way for marriage such as court marriage. This also allows an Indian and a Foreigner to marry irrespective of their religions.

Marriage Between an Indian and a Foreigner:
The Special Marriage Act also provides guidelines for marriage between an Indians and Non Indians (foreigners), the condition for which the marriage is taking place in India and not anywhere else. It is most important for one of the two partners to be at least temporarily residing in India. If one of the partners is residing outside India, it is duty of the partner who is residing in India to fill the Marriage notice which can be obtained from any marriage registrar. This notice will then be sent to the foreign partner who will have to fill it accordingly and submit back to the registrar. The couple then needs to wait for a month to be married.

Documents
Require:
As, we need documents in the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 to register for the marriage. We need the same for the Registration in the Special Marriage Act, 1954 Passport – A valid passport is require in the case of registration under the special marriage act.

• Birth certificate.
• A copy of the divorce certificate in case of divorcees.
• Death certificate of the deceased spouse in case of widowed partner.
• The certificate mentioning the stay of a couple in India for the period of 30 days.

Conditions:
There are different conditions in court marriage. To mention a few, court marriages can be done among those:

• Both male and female are of any religion.
• Between an Indian and a Foreigner.

According to the Special Marriage Act, when two individuals are willing to do a court marriage, they need to ensure the following things:· Both the individuals must not be married substantially to any other partner, i.e. both the parties are required to be unmarried.

Both the individuals must have attained the legal age of marriage, i.e. 21 in the case of the groom (male) and 18 in the case of the bride (female).

• Both the individuals should be marrying with the sound state of mind, and none shall be under any sought of unsound state of mind.
  Charges an Individual has to pay to get Married under the Special Marriage Act:

There is no charge taken by the registrar. Registration form charges differ from state to state. The individuals are required to submit the form charges along with the required documents at the time of registration. Generally it is between Rs. 150-200.

Conclusion:
It is concluded that as per Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 there are certain conditions which are given under section 5 of the act. Which states that without satisfying these conditions, a man and a woman can’t be registered for a marriage. Cost for the registration is different from state to state. And, in the Special Marriage Act, 1954 which is for those who don’t want to marry in a religious way. But, the other way rather than religious way such as court marriage. The Special Marriage Act, 1954 allows an Indian and a Foreigner to get marry irrespective of their religion or nationality. And, the same can be registered later. Written By: Deepak Garg, Student (UILS (CU) - Chandigarh University
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