विशेष विवाह अधिनियम
The Special Marriage Act, 1954
Act 43 of 1954 — a religion-neutral civil-marriage statute. Any two persons (including inter-faith and inter-caste couples) may marry by giving 30 days' notice to a Marriage Officer, after objections are resolved. Chapter III lets couples register marriages already celebrated in other forms. Marriage under this Act severs a Hindu/Buddhist/Sikh/Jain spouse from the undivided family (subject to §21A) and routes succession through the Indian Succession Act, 1925. Chapters V–VI carry the full divorce, judicial-separation, mutual-consent and nullity regime; Chapter VII supplies CPC-style procedure with day-to-day trial, 6-month disposal target and 90-day appeals.
- Sections
- 51
- Chapters
- 8
- Tier
- Tier 1
- Commenced
- 1 January 1955 (vide notification S.R.O. 3606 of 17-12-1954).
Preamble
What this Act sets out to do
An Act to provide a special form of marriage in certain cases, for the registration of such and certain other marriages and for divorce.
Table of contents
Chapters
Chapter I§1–3
Preliminary
Three foundational sections. §1 names the Act and extends it across India. §2 carries the dictionary (degrees of prohibited relationship by reference to the First Schedule, full/half/uterine blood, district, district court, State Government). §3 empowers State Governments (and, for J&K-domiciled citizens, the Centre) to appoint Marriage Officers — the civil-registrar figure on whom the whole Act turns.
3 sections
Chapter II§4–14
Solemnization of Special Marriages
The 30-day public-notice procedure that defines a 'special marriage'. §4 sets the four substantive conditions (no living spouse, sound mind, age 21/18, outside prohibited relationship). §5 requires written notice to the Marriage Officer where one party has lived 30+ days. §§6–7 publish the notice and allow any person to object on §4 grounds. §§8–10 fix the inquiry, costs for mala fide objections, and the procedure abroad. §§11–13 carry out the marriage itself (signed declaration, place and form, marriage certificate). §14 makes the notice lapse if marriage is not solemnised within three months.
11 sections
Chapter III§15–18
Registration of Marriages Celebrated in Other Forms
How a couple already married under religious or customary rites can convert their marriage into a 'Special-Marriage-Act marriage'. §15 lists six conditions (ceremony already performed and living as spouses since; no living spouse; sound mind; both 21+; outside prohibited degrees; 30-day local residence). §16 is the 30-day public-notice procedure for objections. §17 allows appeal to the district court within 30 days. §18 makes the registered marriage 'a marriage under this Act' from the date of entry — and secures children's legitimacy.
4 sections
Chapter IV§19–21A
Consequences of Marriage Under This Act
The 'side-effects' that a Special-Marriage-Act wedding produces. §19 severs a Hindu/Buddhist/Sikh/Jain spouse from the undivided family. §20 preserves rights of succession (and disabilities) the same as under the Caste Disabilities Removal Act. §21 routes succession of the couple's and issue's property through the Indian Succession Act, 1925, dropping the Parsi-Intestate special rules. §21A then carves Hindu/Buddhist/Sikh/Jain inter se SMA couples out of §§19, 20 and 21 — they retain their personal-law family-and-succession position.
4 sections
Chapter V§22–23
Restitution of Conjugal Rights and Judicial Separation
Two pre-divorce reliefs. §22 lets the aggrieved spouse sue for restitution where the other has withdrawn from society without reasonable excuse — the burden of reasonable excuse is on the withdrawing party. §23 lets either spouse seek judicial separation on any §27(1) or §27(1A) divorce ground or on non-compliance with a §22 decree; the duty to cohabit is suspended and the court may rescind the decree on later application if just.
2 sections
Chapter VI§24–30
Nullity of Marriage and Divorce
The Act's matrimonial-relief catalogue. §24 makes a marriage null and void if any §4(a)–(d) condition was unmet, or if the respondent was impotent at marriage and at suit; §24(2) lets Chapter-III registrations be voided if §15(a)–(e) conditions were breached. §25 lists three voidable grounds — wilful refusal to consummate, pre-existing pregnancy by another, consent obtained by coercion or fraud — with strict time-limits. §26 secures the legitimacy of children of void and voidable marriages. §27 carries the full divorce regime (general grounds in §27(1); wife-only grounds in §27(1A); post-decree non-resumption in §27(2)). §27A lets the court grant judicial separation instead of divorce. §28 is divorce by mutual consent with the 6-to-18-month cooling window. §29 bars divorce in the first year (waivable for exceptional hardship/depravity). §30 says when a divorced person may remarry.
8 sections
Chapter VII§31–41
Jurisdiction and Procedure
How Chapter V and VI petitions are filed, tried and appealed. §31 fixes the forum (place of marriage, respondent's residence, last cohabitation, wife-petitioner's residence since 2003, or petitioner's residence in absconding-respondent cases) plus a 3-year residence ground for wife-petitioners. §32 covers pleadings and verification, and §33 keeps every proceeding in camera. §34 is the gate-keeping clause (ground exists, no condonation/connivance, no force-fraud-induced mutual consent, no collusion, no delay, no other legal bar) with a reconciliation duty. §§35–38 carry counter-claims, alimony pendente lite, permanent alimony and child custody (with 60-day disposal targets). §§39–40C cover appeals (90 days), CPC applicability, inter-court transfer, day-to-day trial within 6 months and the documentary-evidence shortcut. §41 lets the High Court make procedure rules.
15 sections
Chapter VIII§42–51
Miscellaneous
Closing provisions. §42 is a saving — the Act does not invalidate non-SMA marriages or other modes of contracting marriage. §43 punishes a married person who marries again under this Act (IPC §494/§495). §44 punishes an SMA spouse who contracts another marriage. §45 punishes false declarations (IPC §199). §46 punishes a Marriage Officer who wilfully solemnises a marriage without notice, within 30 days of notice, or otherwise in breach of the Act. §47 keeps the Marriage Certificate Book open for inspection; §48 transmits copies to the State Registrar-General; §49 lets the Marriage Officer correct entry errors. §50 is the rule-making power. §51 repeals the Special Marriage Act, 1872 and saves marriages and pending proceedings under it.
10 sections
Source
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About this Act
Quick facts
- Year
- 1954
- Sections
- 51
- Chapters
- 8
- Tier
- Tier 1
Amendments
- 1963Act 32 of 1963 — Recast §4(d) (prohibited relationships) and inserted the §4 'custom' Explanation.
- 1969Act 33 of 1969 — Re-engineered the J&K application: dropped 'outside the said territories' fiction and tied §3(2)/§4(e)/§10 to citizens domiciled in India who are in J&K.
- 1970Special Marriage (Amendment) Act, 1970 (29 of 1970) — Inserted §27(2) — divorce after non-resumption following a §22/§23 decree.
- 1976Marriage Laws (Amendment) Act, 1976 (Act 68 of 1976) — Major overhaul — recast §§4(b), 26, 27, 33, 34, 35, 36, 39; inserted §§21A, 27A, 28 (mutual consent), 39A, 40A–40C; cut 'three years' bar in §29 to one year.
- 1983Act 20 of 1983 — Inserted §50(3)–(4) — parliamentary/State-Legislature laying clauses for rules.
- 1999Act 39 of 1999 — Omitted 'or epilepsy' from §4(b)(iii).
- 2001Act 49 of 2001 — Inserted 60-day disposal provisos in §§36 and 38.
- 2003Act 50 of 2003 — Inserted §31(iiia) (wife-petitioner's own residence); §39(4) appeal period raised from 30 to 90 days.
- 2019Act 34 of 2019 (J&K Reorganisation) — Removed J&K exclusion from §1(2); Act now extends to the whole of India.