#THE ANAND MARRIAGE ACT, 1909 
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##ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS 
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SECTIONS 

1. Short title and extent. 
2. Validity of Anand marriages. 
3. Exemption of certain marraiges from Act. 
4. Saving of marriages solemnized according to other ceremonies. 
5. Non-validation of marriages within prohibited degrees. 
6. Registration of marriages. 


 
#THE ANAND MARRIAGE ACT, 1909 

ACT NO. 7 OF 1909

[22nd October, 1909.] 

An Act to remove doubts as to the validity of the marriage ceremony common among the Sikhs 
called Anand. 

  WHEREAS it expedient to remove  any doubts as to the validity of the marriage  ceremony  common 
among the Sikhs called Anand; it is hereby enacted as follows:— 

1. **Short title and extent.**—(1) This Act may be called the Anand Marriage Act, 1909; and. 

(2) Its extends to the whole of India. 

2. **Validity of Anand marriages.**—All  marriages  which  may  be  or  may  have  been  duly 
solemnized according to the Sikh marriage ceremony called Anand (commonly known as Anand 
Karaj) shall be, and shall be deemed to have been with effect from the date Of the solemnization 
or each respectively, good and valid in law. 

3. **Exemption of certain marraiges from Act.**—Nothing in this Act shall apply to— 

(a) any marriage between persons not professing the Sikh religion, or 

(b) any marriage which has been judically declared to be null and void. 

4. **Saving of marriages solemnized according to other ceremonies.**—Nothing in this Act shall 
affect the validity of any marriage duly solemnized according to any other marriage ceremony customary 
among the Sikhs. 

5. **Non-validation of marriages within prohibited degrees.**—Nothing in this Act shall be deemed 
to validate any marriage between persons who are related to each other in any degree of consanguinity or 
effinity  which  would,  according  to  the  customary  law  of  the  Sikhs,  render  a  marriage  between  them 
illegal. 

6. **Registration of marriages.**—(1) For the purposes of facilitation of proof of marriage ceremony 
(commonly  known  as  Anand  Karaj)  customary  among  the  Sikhs,  the  State  Government  shall,  without 
prejudice to anything contained in the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (25 of 1955) or any other law for the 
time  being  in  force,  make  rules  providing  that  the  parties  to  any  such  marriage [whether solemnized 
before  or  after  the  commencement  of  the  Anand  Marriage  (Amendment)  Act,  2012],  may  have  the 
particulars relating to their marriage entered, in such manner and subject to such conditions as may be 
provided in the said rules, in a Marriage Register kept by such officer of the State Government or of a 
local authority authorised by the State Government, by notification in the Official Gazette, in this behalf. 

(2) The  Marriage  Register  shall,  at  all  reasonable  times,  be  open  for  inspection,  and  shall  be 
admissible as evidence of the statements contained therein and certified extracts therefrom shall, on an 
application, be given by the Registrar to the parties to the marriage on payment of such fees as may be 
provided in the rules. 

(3) Notwithstanding  anything  contained  in  this  section,  the  validity  of  any  Anand  Marriage 
solemnized shall in no way be affected by the omission to make an entry in the Marriage Register. 

(4) Every  rule  made  by  the  State  Government  under  this  section  shall  be  laid  before  the  State 
Legislature, as soon as may be, after they are made. 

(5) The  parties  to  the  marriage,  whose  marriage  has  been  registered  under  this  Act,  shall  not  be 
required to get their marriage registered under any other law for the time being in force (including State 
Act).