The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Courtr observed that if a person of Hindu faith performed his or her marriage with another person from a non-Hindu faith according to the Hindu customs and rites, it was not approved by the court of law. File photo
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
A person of Hindu faith who wishes to marry a person of another faith, be it Christianity, Islam or any other faith, then such a marriage should be registered under the Special Marriage Act, in order to avoid being declared illegal and void, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court observed.
A Division Bench of Justices R. M. T. Teekaa Raman and N. Senthilkumar observed that if a person of Hindu faith performed his or her marriage with another person from a non-Hindu faith according to the Hindu customs and rites, it was not approved by the court of law.
A Hindu person marrying a non-Indian of another faith was their personal choice. In India, the law of the land had to be followed. The procedures prescribed in the personal law for the Hindus indicated that at the time of marriage both the parties should be Hindus and should perform marriage rites according to the Hindu customs and rites. If one of the parties did not belong to the Hindu faith, the proper procedure was to register the marriage under the Special Marriage Act, the court observed.
“We feel that an awareness on this aspect has to be made to the prospective brides and bridegrooms regarding performance of their marriage ceremony and other legal requirements”, the court observed.
The court was hearing an appeal filed by a Hindu woman against the judgment of the Family Court in Madurai that had declared the marriage solemnised between her and her husband, a Christian, null and void. Her husband filed a suit before the Family Court seeking to declare the marriage as null and void. The marriage was not registered under the Special Marriage Act. The court upheld the Family Court’s judgment.
Published – February 12, 2025 10:22 pm IST