Adv. Aileen Marques (with inputs from Adv. Ivor Dcruz and Adv. Anthony Marques)
Registration of marriage means your marriage is notified in government records and the certificate of marriage is issued by the government. Registration of marriages is compulsory in Maharashtra.
A catholic couple (meaning both the bride and the groom are catholic) who gets married in the church signs two registers. One is the church register and the other is the government register. After marriage the Church issues a certificate of marriage for a fee which is an extract from their register. This Certificate carries the seal of the church and the signature of the issuing priest. Once every 3 months, the church sends records of the government register / certificates to Pune for registration. These certificates do not come back to the church.
Since the marriage of the catholic couple is already part of the government records (by their signing the government register), an arrangement with regards to getting a government certificate of marriage has been made between the Church and the state government of Maharashtra. By way of this arrangement, the couple has to first get their certificate of marriage from the church and then get this certificate endorsed by the Archbishop and/or Official at the Archbishop’s House. This certificate has then to be taken to the Marriage Registrar in Mantralaya. The Marriage Registrar will put his signature and seal on the Certificate issued by the Church and endorsed by the Archbishop.
In simple words, once the church certifies your marriage, the same is endorsed by the government symbolizing that your marriage is registered.
This is the general procedure followed by Catholics in Maharashtra to get a marriage certificate endorsed by the government. This certificate is generally accepted at all government offices and holds as much value as a certificate issued by the government.
There is no need for a Catholic Couple to get married again under the Special Marriage Act/ Court Marriage to get a Marriage Certificate issued by the Government. This will lead to re-marriage or second marriage. However, some couples seem to feel that they need a Certificate of Marriage from the Government. In that case they may follow the procedure for registration of marriage as followed by people of other faith. This will lead to duplication of your marriage in government records.