THULASI K. RAJ Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner, an Indian citizen, desires to enter into a marriage with one Bastian Steuwer, a foreign national from Germany and a resident of London, United Kingdom. The petitioner, residing under the jurisdiction of the Marriage Officer/Sub Registrar, the 3rd respondent herein, made an application for contracting the said marriage under the Special Marriage Act , 1954. An objection was raised by the 3rd respondent, allegedly on the ground that the marriage is intended to be entered into with a foreign citizen and, hence, the provisions of the Special Marriage Act cannot be invoked. The impugned order is produced at Ext.P4.

(2.) In fact, the said issue was already considered by this Court in Rajeev v. State of Kerala [2001 (1) KLT 578], which relied on a decision of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh in Marian Eva v. State of Himachal Pradesh [AIR 1993 Himachal Pradesh 7]. The Court categorically found that the Special Marriage Act does not contain any prohibition for solemnisation of the marriage, if one of the parties is a foreigner. This Court has also reiterated the said position in W.P.(C) No.13276 of 2015, vide judgment dated 01.06.2015.

(3.) A reading of the provisions of the Special Marriage Act would also indicate that, Section 4 contemplates that a marriage between "any two persons" could be solemnized under the Act; if the conditions specified therein are fulfilled. It is also relevant that, by Circular No.R.R.6.23638/14 dated 23.10.2014, the Government had answered a clarification made by the Inspector General of Registration and specifically indicated after citing the aforesaid decisions that the word "person" used in Section 4 of the Special Marriage Act does not indicate either one of the parties or both the parties should be citizens of India.