Special Marriage License

In some cases, the procedure for the notice of marriage and the registrar's certificate may be circumvented. The Governor of a State may, if he is satisfied with the circumstances of a particular case, dispense with the givmg of notice and the issue of the registrar's certificate. Then he may, if satisfied by affidavit that there is no lawful impediment to the proposed marriage and that the necessary consent, if any, to the proposed marriage has been obtained, grant his own licence to the applicant. The special licence will authorize the celebration of a marriage between the parties named therein by a registrar or a recognized minister of a religious denomination or body.

Special licence is granted, for instance, where, inter alia, the parties cannot wait for the prescribed period of twenty-one days after lodging a notice with a registrar. Further, such special licence is often granted where a public figure desires to contract a marriage quietly and without publicity.