The Kerala High Court directed the State to modify the PEARL Software, which is used to issue marriage certificates, so as to include the date of marriage in accordance with the format prescribed in the fifth schedule of the Special Marriage Act, 1954.

A Writ Petition was filed seeking to direct the Marriage Officer to issue a fresh certificate of marriage mentioning the actual date of the solemnization of the marriage.

The Bench of Justice Shoba Annamma Eapen observed, “In order to modify the format in the PEARL software in accordance with the format prescribed in the fifth schedule of the Act, so as to enable all the applicants to get the certificate in the prescribed format by including the original date of celebration of the marriage, a direction has to be issued to the authorities concerned. Therefore, the Additional Chief Secretary, Taxes (J) Department, Government Secretariat, Thiruvananthapuram; and the Inspector General of Registration, Office of the Inspector General of Registration, Vanchiyoor P.O., Thiruvananthapuram, are suo motu impleaded as additional respondents 3 and 4 respectively. The learned Government Pleader takes notice for additional respondents 3 and 4.”

Advocate Alias M.Cherian represented the Petitioner, while Advocate K B Sony represented the Respondents.

Case Brief

A Writ Petition was filed by the Petitioners seeking to direct the Marriage Officer to issue a fresh certificate of marriage celebrated under section 15 and 16 of the Special Marriage Act 1954, mentioning the actual date of the solemnization/celebration of the marriage of the Petitioners.

The Petitioners got married on July 10, 2022 in a ceremony conducted in accordance with the Hindu rites and customs, however, the marriage certificate under Section 15 of the Special Marriage Act, 1954 was issued on October 01, 2022, without mentioning the actual date of celebration of marriage.

On the request of the Petitioners to include the date of marriage in the certificate, it was informed that the date of celebration of marriage cannot be included in the certificate since there is no provision to include the same as per the prevailing law.

It was contended by the State that the certificate of marriage is generated automatically by a software, viz., PEARL, designed in accordance with the Act.

Court’s Observation

The High Court referred to the Schedule of the Special Marriage Act, which provides for the format of the certificate of the marriage. The Court observed, “A perusal of the said form shows that there is a provision for including the date of celebration of the marriage, in the last line of the form. The reason for not mentioning the date of celebration of the marriage, as stated by the respondents, is that the marriage certificates are issued by PEARL software and they cannot modify or correct the details generated through PEARL software.”

Pertinently, the High Court held that authorities cannot deny the request of the Petitioners to include the date of celebration of marriage in the marriage certificate. If it is an error occurring in the PEARL software while generating a marriage certificate, it is for the authority to correct the same in order to issue a proper and valid certificate showing the original date of celebration of the marriage.

“As stated above, in the fifth schedule, the form contains a provision to show the original date of celebration of the marriage in the certificate. Unless the date of celebration is not shown, there is no meaning in issuing such a certificate to the petitioners”, the Bench said.

Accordingly, the High Court suo motu impleaded Additional Chief Secretary, Taxes (J) Department, Government Secretariat and Inspector General of Registration, Office of the Inspector General of Registration as additional respondents to issue direction.

The High Court directed, “Additional respondents 3 and 4 are directed to take steps to modify the format in the ‘PEARL software’ in accordance with the format prescribed in the fifth schedule of the Act, so as to enable all the applicants to get the certificate in the prescribed format, by including the original date of celebration of the marriage.”

Cause Title: Athul Dini V. The District Registrar (Neutral Citation: 2025:KER:66454 )

Appearance:

Petitioner: Advocates Alias M.Cherian, K.M.Raphy, Bristo S Pariyaram, Vivek Radhakrishnan and Arun C.S.

Respondent: K B Sony

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Kerala High CourtJustice Shoba Annamma Eapen

Pridhi Chopra

    Pridhi Chopra was earlier practicing as an Advocate in Delhi. She pursued B.A. (H) English from Gargi College, University of Delhi, and subsequently pursued a degree in Law.