Kochi: The Kerala High Court has held that the marriage certificates issued by the SNDP Yogam are illegal. The court directed the state to regulate the manner in which marriage certificates are to be issued by organisations like SNDP Yogam and Sivagiri Mutt. A division bench comprising Justice K. Surendra Mohan and Justice Mary Joseph observed that since they are illegal, problems would arise regarding succession in case of death or divorce. The court was considering a habeas corpus petition filed by the grandmother of a 19-year-old woman seeking her custody.
The court found that she was married to a person and wants to live with him. She produced a marriage certificate and submitted that she was married on August 12, 2016. “The said certificate is misleading and has no validity in the eye of law. The same was issued by the SNDP Yogam in Thiruvananthapuram district. How a marriage could be conducted at the sakha office of the SNDP is not clear. We do not know on what basis such a certificate has been issued by the SNDP Yogam,” the court observed.
“The practice of issuing such misleading certificates by responsible organisations like SNDP Yogam is, to say the least, unbecoming of their social status,” the court noted. “We have come to know about the present certificate only because this case came up before the court. There could be other instances where parties continue to live as husband and wife under the mistaken belief that their relationship is legal and valid. The situation could give rise to various complications. It is only appropriate that the local authorities as well as such social organisations exercise restraint,” it said. The court asked the woman to register the marriage as per the Special Marriage Act and disposed of the case.
