KOCHI: Kerala High Court has held that the sub-registrar (the marriage officer) need not have to look into the nature of divorce obtained by the man and woman earlier while considering their marriage applications under Section 8 of the Special Marriage Act. “Going by the mandate of Section 8 of the Act, it only requires the parties to satisfy the Registering Authority that they have no living spouses at the time when the application is made and the marriage is registered,” said the court.
Justice Devan Ramachandran issued the order on a petition challenging the decision of the sub-registrar rejecting the application to register marriage on the ground that there are no sufficient materials to show that the man and his proposed bride are single, or without a living spouse.
The petitioner argued that though the records including the order of courts in the United Kingdom, which indicate that both of them have obtained divorces from their respective earlier spouses and are presently single, it was not accepted. The government pleader informed that it was not clear as to the nature of divorces obtained by them.