Report No. 211

B. Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act 1936

The Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act was first enacted in 1865 which was replaced by a new Act bearing the same caption in 1936. The new Act was amended in some respects in 1988.

Parsi marriages are to be solemnized under the Act by the Parsi priests who are required to certify them in a prescribed form to be signed by the priest, the contracting parties and two witnesses (Section 6).

The officiating priests are required by the Act to periodically transmit their records to Marriage Registrars appointed under the Act. A priest who neglects either to so certify a marriage or to transmit its copy to the Marriage Registrar will be guilty of an offence punishable with simple imprisonment up to three months, or with fine up to a hundred rupees, or with both (Section 12).

The Marriage Registrars are to be appointed by the State Government for various areas except within the local limits of the ordinary original civil jurisdiction of a High Court for which they are to be appointed by the Chief Justice or a senior Judge of the Court (Section 7). The Marriage Registrars except those appointed by the High Court are required to periodically transmit copies of their records to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Section 9).