Essentials of Marriage under various religions as recognised by law.

Marriage is a socially recognized union of two people that has the sanction of law. In India marriage is
considered to be one of the most auspicious unions between two individuals of every religion. For the
legal recognition of a marriage, the marriage should be registered under the personal laws in force in
India.

Christian Marriages in India under Christian Marriage Act of 1875 :

➔ The Marriage is performed by a Minister or a Priest who solemnizes the marriage abiding by all
the ceremonies and he later registers the marriage in the respective government office.

Essentials of a valid Christian Marriage

Section 4 - Both or at least either one of the marrying parties should be a Christian by religion. Also if the
religion of the party who is not Christian forbids a marriage on grounds of prohibited degrees of marriage,
then the marriage would be considered void under this act.

Section 60 - The age of the groom should not be less than 21 years and the age of the bride should not
be less than 18 years at the time of marriage. Both parties must give voluntary consent without coercion
or misrepresentation. Also both parties should not have a living spouse at the time of marriage. The
marriage must be performed in the presence of a person licensed to grant a license of marriage and two
reliable witnesses.

Individuals authorised to solemnize the marriage under Chritstian Law

Section 5 of the act talks about the people who have the authority to solemnize a Christian marriage. If
anyone aside from them can’t solemnize a valid Christian marriage.

Any individual who has received episcopal ordination and is authorized to solemnize a marriage by
following the rules, rites, ceremonies, and customs of the Church he is Minister of,
Any clergyman who belongs to the Church of Scotland and is authorized to solemnize a marriage by
following the rules, rites, ceremonies, and customs of the Church of Scotland,
An individual who is a Minister of Religion who is authorized to solemnize marriage with license as per the
act,
Any individual who is licensed under this act to grant a certificate of marriage between Christian marriage.
This point is explained in section 9 of the act.

Time and Place of a Christian Marriage

The act specifically states where a Christian marriage should take place and at what time the marriage
should take place. Section 10 states that the marriage should strictly take place between the timeframe of
six in the morning and seven in the evening. Whereas section 11 of the act lays down that the marriage
should take place in a Church or Chapel. There can be a change in these provisions by giving them
special consideration or grants.

Hindu Marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955

➔ Hindu Marriage refers to kanyadan which means gifting a girl to the boy by the father with all the
tradition and rites or custom.

Scope of the Act

Section 2 of the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 states that this act applies to any person who is a Hindu by birth
or who has changed his/her religion to either any of its forms such as Virashaiva, a Lingayat or a follower
of the Brahmo, Prarthana or Arya Samaj. Any person who is a Buddhist, Jain, or Sikh also comes under
this act. Any person who isn’t a Muslim, Christan, Parsi, or Jew by religion, if being governed by Hindu
Law comes under this act.
Essentials as per the Act
Condition of monogamy
Section 5 (i) of the Hindu marriage act 1955 states that at the time of the marriage a person should not
have a living spouse. It is not permissible in Shastri law to have two married women at a point in time. It is
also punishable under the Indian penal code 1955.

Bigamy
Bigamy amounts to having two living wives at the same time which is illegal in Hindu law; without
finalizing the divorce from the first marriage, a person can’t marry someone else. The first one will be
considered a legal marriage. The provision of section 494 and 495 of the Indian Penal Code 1860 will be
applicable to the person performing the second marriage after already having a living husband and wife.

Conditions regarding mental health or capacity

Section 5 (ii) (a),(b),(c) Hindu marriage Act 1955 discusses the condition of valid of Hindu marriage
related to mental health or capacity of the person; if a person is suffering from unsoundness of mind at
the time of marriage, Marriage will be considered as void. It is necessary that a person shall be capable of
giving valid consent at the time of the marriage.

Condition for marriageable age

Section 5 (iii) of the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 states that the bridegroom has completed the age of
twenty-one and the bride has completed the age of eighteen years at the time of the marriage. If the
person has not attained given in section 5 (iii) the marriage will be void it has no legal status.

Prohibited Relationship
Section 5 (iv) of the act states that neither party shall fall under degrees of prohibited relationships except
when such union is allowed by custom or usage. A marriage solemnized within the prohibited degrees of
relationship would be void as per Section 11 of the Act and is punishable with simple imprisonment which
may extend upto one month, or with fine or with both as per Section 18 (b) of the act. If such a custom
prevails, then it must have a recognition as per Section 3 (a) and must not be ruled out as per Section
3(g) of the Act.

Sapinda relationship
Section 3 (f)(ii) & Section 18 (b) All prohibited relationships are Sapinda but all Sapinda relationships are
not prohibited relationships. Sapinda relationship is the chain of all the relationship from the side of the
brother and sister in the family; they can’t marry each other due to prohibited relationship and also their
generation till three generations from the girl side and five-generation from the boy side, till that they all
are in Sapinda relationship. Avoidance of Sapinda can be achieved as the girl reaches the fourth
generation and boy (brother) reaches the sixth generation after that both families can have a marriage
that will be neither prohibited relationship nor Sapinda relationship.

Solemnization of Marriage as per the Act

Section 7 of the Hindu marriage act 1955 states the solemnization of the Hindu marriage, a Hindu
marriage may be performed by all the ceremonies and rituals of both the party or either anyone. It is
concerned with the ‘Saptapadi’ which means that taking seven rounds/seven steps around the fire with
their partner; after its completion marriage becomes complete and binding. It is noteworthy that according
to Hindu Custom, Marriage is not a contract but a sacrament.The marriage renders to be valid if it is
performed between Hindu couples according to the customary ceremony and rituals of each party or any
one of them. Any child born after performing the marriage according to this section will be legitimate.

Causes for voidable Marriages (Section 12)

➔ No sexual intercourse has been done after the marriage due to the impotence of the Husband.
➔ Marriage is in contravention of Section 5 (ii) of this Act which states that the bride shall attain the
age of 18 and the groom shall attain the age of 21.
➔ There shall be a consent of the bride for the marriage.
 ➔ If the husband has pregnant another woman other than the wife.
➔ The wife has filed a request for annulling the marriage.

Registration of Hindu Marriages

The State Government may make rules providing that the parties to any such marriage may have the
particulars relating to their marriage entered in such manner and subject to such conditions as may be
prescribed in a Hindu Marriage Register kept for the purpose.
All rules made under this section shall be laid before the State Legislature, as soon as may be, after they
are made.The Hindu Marriage Register shall at all reasonable times be open for inspection, and shall be
admissible as evidence of the statements therein contained and certified extracts therefrom shall, on
application, be given by the Registrar on payment to him of the prescribed fee. It is also noteworthy that
an omission to make an entry in the register does not nullify the validity of a Hindu Marriage.

Muslim Marriage Essentials

The essentials of a valid marriage are as follows:-

(i) There should be a proposal made by or on behalf of one of the parties to the marriage, and an
acceptance of the proposal by or on behalf of the other party. A Muslim marriage requires proposal 'Ijab'
from one party and acceptance 'Qubul' from the other side. This must be done in one sitting.
(ii) The proposal and acceptance must both be expressed at once meeting. The acceptance must be
corresponding to what is being offered. The marriage must be effectively immediate. If the Wali says I will
marry her to you after two months, there is no marriage.
(iii) The two parties must be legally competent; i.e. they must be sane and adult.
(iv) There must be two male or one male & two female witnesses, who must be sane and adult
Mahomedan present & hearing during the marriage proposal and acceptance. (Not needed in Shia Law)
(v) Neither writing nor any religious ceremony is needed.

The resemblance of Muslim Marriage to a contract cannot be left out of notice.

It is also noteworthy that the consent must be free and devoid of any coercion, compulsion or
misrepresentation or a result of duress or undue influence.

Essentials of Marriage under Special Marriage Act

-The bridegroom must be at least 21, and at the time of the marriage, the bride must be at
least 18 years of age. This is the minimum age limit respectively for a boy/girl to marry.
-At the time of their marriage, both parties must be monogamous; i.e., they must be
unmarried and at that time should not have any living spouse.
-In order to be able to decide for themselves, the parties should be mentally fit, i.e., they
must be sane at the time of marriage.
-They should not be related to themselves through blood relationships; i.e. they should not
be subjected to prohibited relationships that otherwise act as a ground for dissolving their marriage.