The Madras High Court bench here today pulled up a Sub Registrar for not following appropriate procedure while issuing a marriage certificate for a couple belonging to religions.
Justices P R Sivakumar and S Vaidyanathan, who asked the Sub Registrar of Tiruchirappalli to appear and see the documents produced by the husband and asked "how did you accept this memorandum of declaration of marriage, which did not contain the name of the priest who performed the marriage rites and the wedding invitation which did not contain the name of the printing press.
The Judges also said that departmental action should be taken against him for providing the marriage certificate without following any procedure. In the meanwhile the Sub Registrar Deivasigamani should not be permitted from now to handle marriage registration and posted to another wing of the registration department.
The Judges who were hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by the husband and closed the HCP today and allowed the girl to go anywhere she liked as she was a major.
Arockiasamy, the father woman Mario Printo, said the petitioner Nataraj had cheated his daughter and married her. But Mario prito denied she was cheated.
Earlier the court said the couple had got married in a temple and produced the memorandum of declaration of marriage. Accepting it the sub registrar had issued the certificate of registration without verifying if it was valid or not.
As per Hindu law the marriage in a temple was not valid if one of the couple belongs to Christian religion and she continued to be so. The marriage was also not solemnised as per Indian Christian Marriage Act.
For such a couple there was a special marriage act, under which parties intending to solem solemnize their marriage should give notice in the prescribed form to the District Marriage Officer.
One of them should have resided in the district for more than 30 days. The notice would be recorded in marriage notice book.
Objection could be raised within 30 days and only after this period, could the marriage be solemnised.
In this case the sub registrar should have directed the couple to approach the Marriage officer. But he did not do so and issued certificate accepting declaration, the HC said.
The husband had levelled wild charges against his father in-law as if he was illegally detaining her. The petition had been filed as if the marriage was valid. Notice was ordered to the father in law, but No step taken to issue it to him.
