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The plea referred to a High Court judgment wherein the Court allowed the facilitation of registration of the marriage of two foreign nationals under the Special Marriage Act, 1954 through offline mode.
The Delhi High Court on Friday allowed two foreign nationals from Canada and the United States of America working in Delhi to solemnize and register their marriage in Delhi.
A single-judge bench of Justice Prathiba M Singh asked the couple to approach the Sub-Divisional Magistrate on January 17 to submit the form for solemnization of marriage.
The bench was hearing a plea filed by a Hindu-Christian couple from the USA & Canada, seeking registration of marriage in India. The couple had been living in India for 6 months and wanted to marry & continue staying in India.
To solemnize their marriage under the Special Marriage Act, 1954, the couple was advised to apply for the same through the Delhi Government's official website, viz. www.edistrict.delhigovt.nic.in. However, once the couple filled in their respective particulars on the said website and clicked on ‘submit’, they were prompted with an error message which read ‘At least one party should be Indian’ and were consequently not allowed to proceed further.
Thereafter, the couple visited the office of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate and enquired about the issue. The couple attempted to impress upon the office of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate that there is no bar for foreign citizens to solemnize their marriage in India, particularly when they have been residing in India.
In view of the above the couple was informed by the SDM office that the website required the inputs to be made in a particular manner and that it is beyond their control to accept their application. On inquiry, the couple was informed that there is no procedure for applying for solemnization of marriage under the Special Marriage Act, 1954 in an offline mode, the plea added.
Counsel appearing for the petitioner referred to the Special Marriage Act, which says that 'ANY PERSON' can solemnize a marriage. Additionally, the counsel appearing for the department agreed with the petitioner and submitted that the department is reconsidering making changes in the portal for the registration of the marriage.
Given the above, the court directed the Delhi Government to place a status report record giving the details of steps taken for amending the guidelines and making changes to the e-portal.
The Court also directed the Secretary of the department to appear before the Court in person on January 19, in view that the guidelines and the e-portal for the solemnization of marriage had not been changed even when directions had been passed in the year 2019.
Case Title: ARUSHI MEHRA & ANR VS. GOVERNMENT OF NCT OF DELHI & ANR
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