The Kerala Special Marriage Rules 1958

1. (1) These rules may be called the Kerala Special Marriage Rules 1958

    (2) They extend to the whole of the State of Kerala

    (3) They shall come into force on the First day of February 1958.

2. In these rules:-

• (a) the Act means the Special Marriage Act, 1954 (Central Act 43 of 1954)
• (b) Form means a Form appended to these rules
• (c) Section means a section of the Act...

3. Every Marriage Officer shall cause his name, designation and the regular working hours of his office to be written in English and in the language of languages of the District and displayed in a conspicuous part of the building in which his office in situated.

4. 

• (a) Notice of any intended marriage under the act shall be given in writing in the form specified in the Second Schedule to the Act, to the Marriage Officer by both the parties intending to enter into the Marriage either in person or by registered post.
• (b) Where the notice is delivered in person, the fee prescribed thereof in Rule 10 shall be paid directly in cash to the marriage Officer. Where the notice is sent by registered post, the fee shall be remitted by money order at the remitter expense and receipt issued to the remitter by the post office through which the remittance is made shall be attached to the notice.
• c) As soon as the notice has been received by the Marriage Officer, a distinctive serial number shall be entered on it and such number and the date of receipt of the notice shall be attested by the signature of the Marriage Officer. If the notice is in conformity with the requirement of the Act, it shall be entered in the Marriage Notice Book which shall be a bound volume, the pages of which are machine,-numbered consecutively, with a nominal index attached. If the notice is not in conformity with the requirements of the Act it shall be got rectified by the parties if they are present, or returned to them by post for rectification and retransmission within a date to be fixed. Every item of rectification shall be attested by both the parties.(d) The Marriage Officer may for the purpose of satisfying himself that the parties to a marriage have completed the age specified in Section 4(c) require them to produce birth certificate or any other satisfactory evidence to prove their age.

5. A true copy of the notice under the seal and signature of the Marriage Officer shall be exhibited in a conspicuous place in his office. 

6. 

(a) Where an objection to the solemnization of an intended marriage together with the fee prescribed therefor in Rule 10 has been received and recorded by the Marriage Officer, he shall, unless by the order in writing he rejects the objection sum-merrily on the ground that the objection is not based on contravention of any of the conditions specified in Section 4 enquire into the objection on a day to be fixed by him. The day so fixed shall not be later than thirty days from the date of the objection.

(b) The Marriage Officer shall, at the time of recording the objection, ascertain from the objector whether he has any documents on which he relies or whether he desires any witnesses or witness to be examined on his behalf. If the objector states that he has, the Marriage Officer shall require the objector to produce the documents or the witness on the day fixed for the enquiry. If the objector desires that summonses shall be issued to the witnesses to appear and give evidence or to produce any document, the Marriage Officer shall issue such summonses to the witnesses cited, on payment of the process fee prescribed therefor in Rule 10 and the reasonable expenses of travelling and subsistence of the Witnesses The enquiry relating to the objection including the production of documents and and the examination of witness shall be completed and the decision of the Marriage Officer arrived at within the period of thirty days specified in Section 8, If within the prescribed period, the documents are not produced and witnesses do not appear before the Marriage Officer, the Marriage Officer shall take a decision without waiting for the production of such documents or the appearance of such witnesses.

(c) The Marriage Officer shall also give notice of the date and time fixed for the enquiry to the parties to the intended marriage.

(d) The notice or summons to any party or witness under this rule shall be in From 1or 11, as the case may be, and shall be sent by registered post.

(e) On the date fixed for the enquiry or on any adjourned date, the Marriage Officer shall record in his own hand the evidence given in the course of enquiry, his decision on the objection and the reason therefor.

7. (a) An application under Section 16 for the registration of a marriage celebratedin other forms shall be in Form III

(b) Such application shall be presented to the Marriage Officer by any one ofthe parties in person or sent to him by registered post.

(c) Notice of the application under sub-rule (a) shall be given by the MarriageOfficer by exhibiting a true copy thereof under his seal and signature in a conspicuous place outside his office. The notice shall also state that objections, if any to the registration of the marriage should be preferred by the objector in person orally or in writing to the Marriage Officer within thirty days from the date on which the notice is exhibited

(d) Any objection received within the said period together with the feeprescribed therefore in Rule 10 shall be recorded and the enquiry in respect there to made as nearly as possible in the manner prescribed in Rule 6.

8. The Marriage Officer may, on application by both the parties to the marriage, solemnize the same at any place outside his office provided the additional fee prescribed therefore in Rule10 is paid and the hour is not unreasonable.

9. The Marriage certificate Book shall be a bound volume, the pages of which are machine numbered consecutively with a nominal index attached, Every marriage certificate entered therein during each calendar year shall be consecutively numbered and every authenticated copy of a certificate issued to the parties shall bear this number and the date, month and the year in which the certificate was entered.

Full Text

Source: www.cr.lsgkerala.gov.in