Marriage Certificate Issued Without Preceding Marriage Ceremony Fake: Madras HC

A single judge bench of the Madras High Court presided by Justice R Vijayakumar has said that the registering authority cannot mechanically register a marriage only based upon the application presented by the parties, without first verifying the factum of marriage. 

The aforesaid observations were made while hearing a plea by a Muslim woman seeking to quash her marriage registration.

She argued that her cousin fraudulently informed her that her mother was ill and took her to the sub-registrar office and threatened her to sign the marriage register. 

The court held that the officer registering the marriage is duty bound to verify if the marriage had really taken place before registering it.

It said that, “Mere registration of the marriage without undergoing any marriage ceremony would not confer any marital status upon the couple.”

The court went on to say that if any marriage certificate is issued without being preceded by any marriage ceremony, it can only be considered to be a fake marriage certificate.

The authority registering the marriage should not casually rely upon the statutory forms and mechanically proceed to register the marriage.

If one looks at the provisions of Tamil Nadu Registration of Marriages Act, 2009, and Rules framed thereunder, it would be amply clarified that it is mandatory for parties to undergo the ceremonies of marriage which are applicable to their respective religion.