Vol. 14, Part I · pages 86–90

DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES68 (21) Registration of Dharmik marriages as civil marriages 21. Procedure for registration of certain Dharmik Marriages. —(1) Where any two Hindus have gone through a Dharmik form of marriage,— (a) before the commencement of this Code, and doubts are entertained as respects the validity of any such marriage by reason of the provisions of any text, rule or interpretation of Hindu Law or any usage or custom in force at the time of the marriage, or (b) after the commencement of this Code and such marriage is invalid by reason of the fact that it is in contravention of the provisions contained in clause (v) of section 7. such persons may, at any time apply to the Registrar of the district in which either of them has resided for not less than thirty days immediately preceding the application to have their marriage registered as if it were a civil marriage solemnized before the Registrar. (2) Upon receipt of any such application, the Registrar shall give public notice thereof in such manner as may be prescribed and after allowing a period of thirty days for objection and after hearing any objections received within that period the Registrar, if he is satisfied— (a) that the ceremony of marriage was performed on the date mentioned in the application and that the parties have been living together as husband and wife ever since; (b) that the conditions specified in clauses (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv) of section 8 a re satisfied as between the parties to the marriage on the date of the application; and (c) that, where either party not being a widow at the time of the marriage has not on the date of the application completed the age of twenty one years, the consent of his or her guardian in marriage has been obtained to the registration of the marriage as a civil marriage. shall enter a certificate of the marriage in the Hindu Dharmik Marriage Register in the form specified in the Seventh Schedule and such certificate shall be signed by the parties to the marriage as well as by three witnesses. (3) Upon the entry of any such certificate as is specified in sub-section (2),the marriage shall be deemed to have been valid for all purposes and all children born after the date on which the parties went through the Dharmik form of marriage (whose names shall also be entered in the Certificate and the Hindu Dharmik Marriage Register) shall, in all respects, be deemed to be and always to have been the legitimate children of their parents. (4) Any party to such marriage aggrieved by any order passed under this section may appeal against that order to the district court as defined in section 3 within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the Registrar exercises jurisdiction and the decision of the district court on such appeal shall be final.

DR. AMBEDKAR AND THE HINDU CODE BILL 69 21. Procedure for registration of certain Sacramental Marriages. —(1) Where any two Hindus have gone through a sacramental form of marriage,— (a) before the commencement of this Code and doubts are entertained as respects the validity of any such marriage by reason of the provisions of any text, rule or interpretation of Hindu Law or any usage or custom in force at the time of the marriage, or (b) after the commencement of this Code and such marriage is invalid by reason of the fact that it is in contravention of the provisions contained in clause (5) of section 7. such persons may, at any time apply to the Registrar of the district in which either of them has resided for not less than thirty days immediately preceding the application, to have their marriage registered as if it were a civil marriage solemnized before the Registrar. (2) Upon receipt of any such application, the Registrar shall give public notice thereof in such manner as may be prescribed and after allowing a period of thirty days for objection and after hearing any objections received within that period the Registrar, if he is satisfied— (a) that the ceremony of marriage was performed on the date mentioned in the application and that the parties have been living together as husband and wife ever since; (b) that the conditions in clauses (1) to (4) of section 10 are satisfied as between the parties to the marriage on the date of the application; and (c) that, where either party not being a widow at the time of the marriage has not on the date of the application completed the age of twenty one years, the consent of his or her guardian in marriage has been obtained to the registration of the marriage as a civil marriage; shall enter a certificate of the marriage in the Hindu Sacramental Marriage Register in the form specified in the Sixth Schedule and such certificate shall be signed by the parties to the marriage as well as by three witnesses. (3) Upon the entry of any such certificate as is specified in subsection (2) the marriage shall be deemed to have been valid for all purposes and all children born after the date on which the parties went through the Sacramental form of marriage (whose names shall also be entered in the Certificate and the Hindu Sacramental Marriage Register) shall, in all respects, be deemed to be, and always to have been, the legitimate children of their parents. (4) Any party to such marriage aggrieved by any order passed under this section may appeal against that order to the district court within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the Registrar exercises jurisdiction, and the decision of the district court on such appeal shall be final. (21) Part IV, sec. 18, page 18.

DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES70 (22) Use of marriage records 22. Marriage records to be open to inspection etc. —The Hindu Dharmik Marriage Register and the Hindu Civil Marriage Certificate Book shall, at all reasonable times, be open for inspection and shall be admissible as evidence of the truth of the statements therein contained. Certified extracts therefrom shall, on application be given by the Registrar on payment to him of the prescribed fee. (23) 23. Transmission of copies of entries in marriage records to the Registrar General of Births, Deaths and Marriages. —The Registrar shall send to the Registrar General of Births, Deaths and Marriages for the State within which his district is situate at such intervals as may be prescribed, a true copy in the prescribed form and certified by him of all entries made by him in the Hindu Dharmik Marriage Register and the Hindu Civil Marriage Certificate Book since the last of such intervals.

DR. AMBEDKAR AND THE HINDU CODE BILL 71 22. Marriage records to be open to inspection etc.—The Hindu Sacramental Marriage Register and the Hindu Civil Marriage Certificate Book shall, at all reasonable times, be open for inspection and shall be admissible as evidence of the truth of the statements therein contained. Certified extracts therefrom shall, on application be given by the Registrar on payment to him of the prescribed fee. (22) 23. Transmission of copies of entries in marriage records to the Registrar General of Births, Deaths and Marriages.—The Registrar shall send to the Registrar General of Births, Deaths and Marriages for the Province within which his district is situate, at such intervals as may be prescribed, a true copy in the prescribed form and certified by him of all entries made by him in the Hindu Sacramental Marriage Register and the Hindu Civil Marriage Certificate Book since the last of such intervals. (23) Part IV, sec. 19, page 18.

DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES72 (24) Guardianship in marriage 24. Priority among guardians in marriage. —(1) Subject to the provisions of Part IV, wherever the consent of a guardian in marriage is necessary under this Part the persons entitled to give such consent shall be the following in the order specified hereunder, namely,— (1) the father, (2) the mother, (3) the brother, * * * * * * * * * * * * * * (4) any other relative, the nearer being preferred to the more remote. * * * * * * * Explanation.—In determining which of the two relatives is nearer for the purposes of entry (4) above, the test shall be, which of them is first entitled to inherit to the ward’s heritable properly according to the rules of intestate succession in Part VII. (2) No person shall be entitled to act as a guardian in marriage under the provisions of this section unless such person has himself completed his or her twenty first year. (3) Whether any person entitled to be the guardian in marriage under the foregoing provisions refuses or is by reason of absence, disability or other cause, unable or unfit, to act as such, the person next in order shall be entitled to be the guardian in marriage . (4) Nothing in this Part shall affect the jurisdiction of a court to prohibit by injunction and intended marriage arranged by the guardian in marriage, if in the interests of the minor, the court thinks it necessary to do so.