HC: Marriage certificate sans emblem not invalid

HC: Marriage certificate sans emblem not invalid

Vasantha.Kumar@timesgroup.com

03.01.2021

Bengaluru: Merely because there is no image of the state emblem printed on a marriage certificate, it cannot be considered invalid, the high court has observed.

The court rejected an appeal filed by a man, challenging his conviction by a Mangaluru court for offences under IPC sections 498A (subjecting wife to cruelty) and 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace).

Based on the complaint by his wife Shobha from Shivanagar in Alape village, Mangaluru, that her husband assaulted her and married another woman, Sadananda Naik from Karwase village in Karkala taluk was held guilty by a trial court. He was sentenced to one-year imprisonment and fined Rs 5,000.

A sessions court affirmed the verdict on March 29, 2011. Naik had moved the high court, stating he had not married Shobha and contended that the certificate produced was suspicious as it lacked the emblem.

However, Justice HB Prabhakara Sastry pointed out though the document doesn’t contain the emblem as per the format of Form 2A, it still has all other necessary details, including the title showing it as the certificate issued by government and stamp of the marriage officer.

The judge noted that even under section 8 of the KMRM Act, it is stated that non-registration would not invalidate any marriage. The wedding was solemnized between the complainant and the accused on February 3, 2006 and registered before the Registrar of Marriages on March 21, 2007, and it was proved by photographs and evidence of witnesses. The evidence showed the accused married Jyoti at Mahalingeshwara temple in Karkala and it was his second marriage, the judge added.