Registration of Marriages in India

Registration of Marriages in India:-

Whenever a marriage is solemnized between two people, it is the beginning of a partnership by marital relationship. Both spouses have some rights and duties in the marriage. Therefore, a marriage also creates a legal relationship and it must be registered. Registration of marriage can be done under the Hindu Marriage Act and the Special Marriage Act. In the case of Muslims, the rules of marriage and its registration are governed by their personal laws. The Hindu Marriage Act applies to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs and Parsis while under the Special Marriage Act, any two persons can register their marriage irrespective of any religion that they belong to. This means that if the two people marrying are from two different religions, they can marry under the Special Marriage Act. How to Register? Registration of Marriages in India-Registration of Marriages in India Registration of marriage is not a very critical process. Getting a marriage registered is so simple that even an advocate is not required for it. The following steps need to be fulfilled:

1. A marriage registration form must be filled by both the spouses. They must put their signatures in the form with free consent.
2. The proof of date of birth of both the spouses, address and few other personal details must be provided. It must be taken care of that both the spouses are of a marriageable age. The marriageable age for a male is 18 years and for a female, it is 21 years.
3. The filled-in form must be registered/ submitted to a Court of Law or online marriage registration portals recently made.
4. Section 7 of the Hindu Marriage Act also provides that the marriage must be fulfilled according to the customary rites and ceremonies of the Hindu religion.

Is Registration of Marriage Compulsory? Getting a marriage registered is indeed a procedural requirement, however, compulsory registration is not mandated by the Indian laws. This is a huge flaw in the marriage laws of India. Registration of Marriages in India-Registration of Marriages in India Advantages of Registration The following positive effects are fulfilled by getting marriages registered:

1. It gives legal recognition to the new relationship established.
2. It is easy to track down and stop child marriages by verifying age.
3. It becomes easier to track down cases of polygamy (marrying more than one person), which is prohibited in all religions of India except the Islamic religion.
4. A marriage certificate is received after registration which is a useful legal document at many junctures of life after marriage. 
5. When a marriage is registered, both the spouses are bound legally to each other. It provides a sense of security and a sense of legal duty. Once registration is done, it is not an easy task to work out of the marriage without procedural safeguards. This is a very impactful feature in many regions of India where women are not valued by their husbands and abandon the marriage at the smallest of inconveniences. Registration of marriage prevents the relationship from being a walk-in walk-out relationship. Registration of Marriages in India-Registration of Marriages in India

Conclusion Registration of marriage has many social advantages however, it has still not been made a compulsory process to be followed because of the low level of literacy in the country. In the upcoming days, with more progress and education in the country, getting marriages registered will surely be declared a compulsory step to validate a marriage.