Hindu marriage and jurisdiction law book

1. Many Law books r/w Bare Acts (especially published by Universal) needs updation.

2. The S. 19 of the Hindu Marriage Act is amended by Marriage Laws (Amendment) Act, 2003 on 23-12-2003. As per amendment cause of action to file petition shall be at place where wife is the petitioner and she is residing on the date of presentation of petition, will have jurisdiction to entertain the dispute.


3. S. 19 Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 after the Amendment 2003 reads now as below;

19. 1 [Court to which petition shall be presented. Every petition under this Act shall be presented to the district court within the local limits of whose ordinary original civil jurisdiction--
(i) the marriage was solemnized, or
(ii) the respondent, at the time of the presentation of the petition, resides, or
(iii) the parties to the marriage last resided together, or
"(iii a) in case the wife is the petitioner, where she is residing on the date of presentation of the petition, or".
(iv) the petitioner is residing at the time of the presentation of the petition, in a case where the respondent is, at that time, residing outside the territories to which this Act extends, or 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 him if he were alive.]

4. The Statement of Objects of HMA 2003 Amendment are reproduced below:-
 

Statement of Objects and Reasons.- “The Special Marriage Act, 1954 and the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 provide that a petition for relief under the provisions of these Acts shall be presented to the District Court within the limits of whose original jurisdiction the marriage was solemnized or the respondent, at the time of the presentation of the petition, resided or the parties to the marriage last resided together or the petitioner was residing at the time of the presentation of the petition, in a case where the respondent was at the time residing outside the territories to which these Acts extended or had not been heard of as being alive for a period of seven years by those who would naturally have heard of him if he were alive. However, these provisions are not considered adequate or fair as far as the women are concerned. Under the existing provisions, a petition can not be filed by the aggrieved wife to the District Court within the local limits of whose ordinary jurisdiction she may be residing. In view thereof, the Government has decided to amend the provisions of these Acts so that the wife can also file petition in the District Court within the local limits of whose jurisdiction she may be residing. The proposed amendment to Sections 31 and 19 of the Special Marriage Act, 1954 and the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 respectively are based on the recommendations of the Law Commission of India and the National Commission for Women.

(b) The Government has also decided to amend Section 39 of the Special Marriage Act, 1954 and Section 28 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 to provide respectively that the parties to a matrimonial suit could prefer appeal within a period of ninety days instead of thirty days. This amendment is based on the observations made by the Supreme Court in a judgment delivered recently. The amendment to these provisions is proposed so that unscrupulous litigant spouses are not facilitated to frustrate the marriage, taking advantage of the inadequate period provided in law.

(c) The Bill seeks to achieve the above objects."

Source: is annexed in PDF file format.

Thanks Tajobsindia for your reply.

the marriage was solemnized does it mean Hindu temple Arya Samaj marriage or should it also need to be registered ?

As per the law if a person is a non Indian citizen then the marriage needs to be under special marriage act but at the same time under HMA with garlanding and few witness one can also make the marriage legal then why the Special Marriage Act.

The Hindu Marriage Act,1955 provides for registration of an already solemnized marriage. It does not provide for solemnization of a marriage by the Registrar. Parties to the marriage have to apply to the Registrar in whose jurisdiction the marriage is solemnized or to the Registrar in whose jurisdiction either party to the marriage has been residing at least for six months immediately preceding the date of marriage. Both the parties have to appear before the Registrar along with their parents or guardians of other witnesses within one month from the date of marriage. There is provision for condonation of delay upto 5 years by the Registrar and thereafter by the District Registrar concerned.  

Whereas the Special Marriage Act, 1954 provides for solemnization of a marriage as well as Registration by a Marriage Officer. The parties to the intended marriage have to give a notice to the Marriage Officer in whose jurisdiction at least one of the parties has resided for not less than 30 days prior to the date of notice. It should be affixed at some conspicuous place in his office. If either of the parties is residing in the area of another Marriage Officer, a copy of the notice should be sent to him for similar publication. Marriage may be solemnized after expiry of one month from the date of publication of the notice, if no objections are received. If any objections are received, the Marriage Officer has to enquire into them and take a decision either to solemnize the marriage or refuse it. Registration will be done after solemnization of the marriage.

Any marriage already celebrated can also be registered under the Special Marriage Act after giving a public notice of 30 days, subject to the conditions therein whereas once registered it cannot be rescind back.

Above replies only the difference in Registration part.

Now for whom it is applicable is what gets covered in below;

Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 governs marriages between two people who are Hindu by religion and gets married according to Hindu rites and ceremonies.

Special Marriage Act, 1954 is applicable to any two individuals, who doesn’t want to marry as per the religious customs or two people of different religions or one party is Hindu and another party a foreigner.

As far as garlanding with witness are concerned it is a amendment in State laws (especially Tamil Nadu) where even mere exchange of mangalsutra or giving / accepting mangalsutra by parties in presence of witness is allowed and called as a valid marriage.

Then there is something legal referred to as customary marriages between parties which can also be Registered. Here even sapinda relationships as got mentioned in HMA / SMA go for a toss. So Marriage in India unless Uniform Civil Code gets legislated is like a Maha Kumbh.

The marriage was solemnized is a question of fact. It can be in a temple or at Arya Samaj or at a banquet hall or at a Church / Gurudwara / Monastery. Place as in city / town / village of marriage is what gets jurisdiction of a Court under challenge other than other jurisdiction paras mentioned previously.

Registration of marriage is made compulsory only recently since 2006 as per Apex Court direction which many State's are amending in their Birth and Death registration Register as now called as Marriage, Birth and Death Registration (Amendment) accordingly.

If you have any specific question relating to a case for general public knowledge sharing / discussion purposes then do ask specifics instead of going into more and more technicalities. 

I got married in India we both were foregin nationals went back after 5 days ....got divorced in our country already remarried.

wife filed false 498a case still fighting that got divorced 2 yrs back she was present in hearing  ...now wifes mother who also foregin citizen lives in india last 2yrs and have now lodged maintenance case under POA crpc 125 ....can this been done ?