Christian Marriage Laws

Christians are the second-largest religious minority community after Muslims in India. The
marriage of Christian couples is governed by the Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872 which
stipulates the primary condition of the presence of a priest of the Church or minister for the
solemnization of the wedding.

Section 4 of the Christian Marriage Act, 1872 (hereafter, the Act) provides for the
conduction of Christian weddings under its provisions. By virtue of this Section, besides the
marriage ceremony between a Christian and another Christian, the Act also legitimises a knot
between a Christian and Non-Chrisitan provided it is solemnised under its provisions.

In Subhashchandra Ishudas Parmar v. State of Gujarat, the learned High Court of Gujarat
reinstated that a non-Christian marrying a Christian partner need not undergo proselytization.

Age of the bride and groom: The age of the bride and groom, just like other marriage laws,
has been set as eighteen and twenty-one respectively within the Act. A proper consent of the
marrying man and woman should be taken. Moreover, either of them should not be having an
existing and living spouse at the time of the wedding.

Notice for the planned marriage: stipulates the notification by either of the parties
(provided they are residing within the same territorial limits) to the Minister of Religion
regarding their intention of getting married as per the provisions of the Christian Marriage
Act. In cases where they do not reside in the same areas, separate notices have to be sent to
the respective district Marriage Registrars authorized in their areas about their intention of
marriage. It is the responsibility of the Minister to issue certificates for solemnising the
marriage post receiving the notices.

In case one of the intending parties is minor, Section 15 provides for the Minister to return
the notice within 24 hours or otherwise, forward it to the Senior Marriage Registrar or the
District Marriage Registrar. The notice has to be returned within 24 hours under the
provisions of section 13 of the Act.

Section 5 of the Act prescribes a list of people who are competent or eligible to conduct the
marriage valid under the Indian Christian Marriage Act. If the wedding is solemnised by
anyone other than the mentioned people, that marriage shall have no legal standing and be
deemed void. These are as follows:

Provided the marriage is to be executed following the ceremonies, rules, rituals, and customs
of the Church of Scotland, a Clergyman from the Church of Scotland is required to solemnise
the marriage.

A Minister of Religion who is listed and sanctioned under this Act for the purpose.

A Marriage Registrar should either conduct or be a witness of the marriage ceremony of the
couple.
A legally licensed person under the provisions of the Indian Christian Marriage Act to grant
marriage certificates to Indian Christians.

The performance of the Christian marriage: The performance of the Christian marriage takes
place between the parties in accordance with the customs and rituals authorized or deemed fit
by the Priest or the Minister of Church. However, it is mandatory to have two witnesses other
than the Church’s Priest or the Minister to be present in the ceremony.

Provided that the marriage fails to take place within sixty days of the issuance of the notice
by the Minister of Religion, the marriage cannot be conducted until and unless a fresh
application for the notice required for solemnization of marriage has been duly made.

Registration of Christian Marriages under the Act: Part IV of the Indian Christian
Marriage Act, 1872 underlines the provisions providing for the marriage registration of a
Christian Couple and thus providing their bond a legal validity. Individual registration of
marriage by the parties in their respective area or territorial jurisdictions are to be made to the
concerned authorities. The Registrar, who was present in the marriage and/or also conducted
the same, shall register it in the Marriage Register. An acknowledgement slip is annexed to
the Register as proof of the culmination of the marriage with the signatures of the two
witnesses and the parties who have got married. Towards the completion of thirty days, the
copies of these acknowledgement slips are sent to the Registrar General of Births, Deaths,
and Marriages.

There also exists a special provision under which the Indian Christian marriage can be
sanctified even without any prior notice.
If the marriage is not solemnized within two months from the date of the issue of the
certificate it becomes void and a fresh notice is to be served. If a party to a marriage is a
minor, the consent of the father, if he is living, or, if the father is dead, the consent of the
guardian of the person of such minor, or, if there is no guardian, that of the mother is
essential before marriage. The marriage of a minor without such consent is not valid.

Sections 27-37 are included in Part IV of the Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872. It deals
with the registration of marriages solemnized under this Act between Indian Christians.
These marriages should be in conformity with the rules laid down marriages are to be
solemnized by clergymen of the Church of England who shall send quarterly returns to the
Archdeaconry containing all entries of marriage.

Each entry of such marriage is to be signed by both the parties and the person solemnizing
the marriage and shall be attested by two credible witnesses.

Part V contains Sections 38-59 of the Act which deal with marriages solemnized by or in the
presence of a Marriage Registrar. When a marriage is intended to be solemnized by or in the
presence of a Marriage Registrar, notice shall be given by one of the parties to the marriage in
the format given in the First Schedule to any Marriage Registrar of the district or districts of
their residence. The issuance of a certificate is essential before a marriage can be solemnized.
The certificate is issued by the Marriage Registrar which lapses on the expiry of two months
if marriage has not been solemnized. Then a new notice is required to be issued. Once a
Marriage is solemnized it is to be registered and entry recorded in certificate and marriage
register book signed by both the parties and the Marriage Registrar. It should also be duly
attested by two credible witnesses.

Part VI of the Act deals with marriage of Indian Christians. This part containing Sections 60-
65 lays down that there is no need of giving preliminary notice but it must be proved that the
ages of the bridegroom and bride are not below 21 years and 18 years respectively, and that
neither of the persons intending to be married has a wife or husband still living. The parties
then take the oath before the presence of two witnesses and a Marriage Officer who then
grants a certificate of marriage. Entries are made in the register maintained for this purpose.

Part VII deals with penalties which are incorporated in Sections 66-76 for making false
declarations or signing a false notice or certificate. These acts have been made punishable
under Section 193 of the Indian Penal Code. The punishment provided is up to three year
imprisonment.

The making of a false declaration should be intentional. Solemnizing marriage without due
authority has also been made punishable under the Act and the punishment provided extends
to ten years imprisonment. Similarly if a person solemnizes a marriage at any time other than
the prescribed hours or in the absence of witnesses, he is guilty of an offence punishable with
imprisonment which may extend up to three years plus fine. There is no express prohibition
preventing a person professing Christianity from marrying a non-Christian after undergoing a
non-Christian ceremony.

Part VIII of the Act deals with miscellaneous matters concerning marriages under this Act. A
marriage solemnized does not become void under this Act on account of minor irregularities.
The errors can be corrected. It also gives the power to the State Government to prescribe fees,
inter alia, for receiving and publishing notices of marriage, issuing certificates of marriage,
searching register books or certificates, etc. It may be pointed out that while some other
personal laws have been amended the Christian law has remained impervious to change
despite demands and recommendations for reforms.

Christian Divorce Laws

The Indian Divorce Act, 1869 regulates the law relating to divorce of persons professing the
Christian religion and also other matrimonial clauses. This Act is applied if one of the parties
to the proceedings is a Christian. The Act is modelled on the English law of divorce (Section
7). Part III, Section 10 of the Act provides the grounds on which a husband or a wife may
petition for dissolution of marriage.
The Indian Divorce Act, enacted a century ago contained certain harsh and discriminatory
provisions, for example, there is gender discrimination since for obtaining divorce husband
only has to prove adultery on the part of wife whereas the wife has to prove an additional
matrimonial offence like cruelty, desertion, conversion or bigamy along with adultery.

Thus a need for reform in the Indian Divorce Act was long felt by jurists and even the
Supreme Court and the Law Commission. The Supreme Court made a strong plea for
introducing a change in the archaic law in Jorden Diengdeh v. S.S. Chopra

The constitutionality of the controversial Section 10 was again challenged in Mrs. Zachariah
v. Union of India where the court directed the Union to take a decision towards amending the
Act within 6 months. The Kerala High Court in Ammini E J. v. Union of India again not only
highlighted the discrimination but struck down certain phrases in order to give meaningful
relief to the petitioners. The court quashed the provision which requires a Christian wife to
prove that her husband had been indulging in “incestuous adultery” or “adultery coupled with
cruelty or desertion” in order to obtain divorce.

Taking into consideration the above views, the Indian Divorce (Amendment) Act, 2001 was
passed by which certain amendments were introduced in the Act. Section 10 of the Act was
substituted by new provision and a new Section 10-A was inserted. In Part III of the Act
which deals with dissolution of marriage and Part IV relating to nullity of marriage,
amendments were introduced by this Amendment Act of 2001.

Grounds for dissolution of marriage

(1) Any marriage solemnized, whether before or after the commencement of the Indian
Divorce (Amendment) Act, 2001, may, on a petition presented to the district court either by
the husband or the wife would be dissolved on the ground that since the solemnization of the
marriage, the respondent:
 Has committed adultery
 Has ceased to be Christian by conversion to another religion
 Has been incurably of unsound mind for a continuous period of not less than two
years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition.
 Has for a period of not less than two years immediately preceding the presentation of
the petition, been suffering from a virulent and incurable form of leprosy.
 Has for a period of not less than two years immediately proceedings the presentation
of the petition, been suffering from venereal disease in a communicable form.
 Has not been heard of as being alive for a period of seven years or more by those
persons who would naturally have heard of the respondent if the respondent had been
alive.
 Has wilfully refused to consummate the marriage and the marriage has not therefore
been consummated.
has failed to comply with a decree for restitution of conjugal rights for a period of two years
or upwards after the passing of the decree against the respondent or dissolution of a marriage,
the Court shall satisfy itself, so far as it reasonably can, not only as to the fact alleged, but
also whether or not the petitioner has been in any manner accessory to, or connived at, the
going through of the said form of marriage, or the adultery, or has condoned the same and
shall also enquire into any countercharge which may be made against the petitioner.

Case Law
In B.D. Cardoza v. Glady B. Cardoza, where a wife obtained consent by concealing the fact
that by operation her fallopian tubes were removed and she was incapable of giving birth to a
child the petition for declaration of annulment of marriage was allowed and decree passed.
Where a wife delivered a child after 203 days of marriage and the child was not premature
and the husband had neither access nor knowledge about her pre-marriage pregnancy, was
held in P. V Sabu v. Mariakutty, that the husband is entitled to a declaration of nullity of
marriage on ground of fraud.

Citations

 AIR 1985 SC 935

 AIR 1995 Ker. 252
 AIR 1997 M.P 266
 AIR 1981 Mad. 241, (1981) ILR 3 Mad. 241
 AIR 1997 Ori. 162