Bengaluru, April 28 -- The Karnataka High Court has clarified an important point about divorce under the Special Marriage Act, 1954 - a marriage does not need to be officially registered for a divorce case to be filed.
The court said that while the law allows couples to register their marriage, it does not make registration compulsory for seeking divorce under Section 27 of the Act.
Justice K. Manmadha Rao gave this ruling while hearing a case between a husband and wife who got married in 2006 as per their community customs but never registered their marriage.
The couple, who belong to a Scheduled Tribe, have been living separately since 2009 and have a child. The husband first tried to file for divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955...