For the purpose of facilitating proof of Hindu marriages, provision for registration is made under the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955. The particulars relating to the marriage may be entered in a Marriage Register maintained under the rules made by the State Government. It is open the State Government to make the registration of the marriage compulsory. The Andhra Pradesh Government passed an Act “A.P. Compulsory Registration of Marriages Act, 2002 (Act 15 of 2002 w.e.f. 25th October, 2002).
The object of compulsory registration of marriages with the local authorities gives a legal status to wedlock, and strengthen the institutions of marriages and be the conclusive proof of the evidence of such marriage. The marriages also include remarriages. Omission to register the marriage does not affect the validity of the marriage.
The Special Marriage Act of 1954 contains provisions for the registration of marriages celebrated even otherwise than under the Act (or under the Special Marriage Act of 1872 superseded by the Act of 1954). For such registration the following conditions should be satisfied: (1) The parties should be living as husband and wife after the performance of a ceremony of marriage between them. (2) Neither party has more than one spouse living. (3) Neither party is an idiot or a lunatic. (4) The parties have completed 21 years of age. (5) The parties are not within the degrees of prohibited relationship. In the case of a marriage celebrated before 9-10-1954 (the date on which the Special Marriage Act of 1954 came into force) this condition shall be subject to any law, custom or usage governing the parties. (6) The parties have been residing within the district of the Marriage Officer for not less than 30 days prior to the application for registration.
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The effect of registration of a marriage under the Act of 1954 is that the marriage will be deemed to have been solemnized under that Act. All the children born after the date of the ceremony of the marriage shall be deemed always to have been the legitimate children of their parents.
In P. Ramesh Kumar v. Secretary Kannapuran Gram Panchayat, AIR 1998 Ker. 95, a learned single judge of the Kerala High Court held that a Japanese Buddhist lady having Japanese Citizenship on marriage to a Hindu will not be entitled to issuance of marriage certificate since the wife is not a Hindu domiciled in India.
In Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, AIR 2006 SC 1158, the Supreme Court held that marriages of all persons who are citizens of India belonging to various religions should be made compulsorily registrable in their respective States, where the marriage is solemnized.