WHETHER ALL MARRIAGES IN Goa, Daman & Diu, ARE CIVIL CONTRACTS AS PER CIVIL CODE OF THAT STATE ?

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As far as the Civil Code as enacted on 25th

December, 1910, and the provisions of the law of

Marriage as a Civil Contract in Goa, Daman and Diu

which came into force on 26th May, 1911, are

concerned, we are unable to agree with Ms. Aggarwal

that all marriages performed within the territory

of Goa unless registered should be void. The said

provision was altered by the decree of 22nd January,

1946, which restored the validity of both Catholic

marriages and Hindu marriages. Two Hindus,

therefore, can contract a marriage according to

Hindu religious rites or by way of a civil

marriage. Section 2 of the Hindu Marriage Act

extends the operation of the Act to the whole of
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India except Jammu and Kashmir and also applies to

Hindus domiciled in the territories to which the

Act extends who are outside the said territories.

In other words, the provisions of the Hindu

Marriage Act, 1955, would be applicable to the

petitioner's case and can be heard by any Court

having jurisdiction within the territories to which

it applies.

14. We are not convinced with the submissions

made by Ms. Aggarwal that the annulment proceedings

cannot be heard outside the State of Goa in view of

the existing laws which made the Civil Code and the

laws relating to marriage applicable to all persons

residing within the State of Goa. In addition to

the above, Sections 5 and 6 of the Goa, Daman & Diu

(Administration) Act, 1962, indicate that the

Central Government has the authority to extend

enactments applicable to the rest of the country.

In other words, even if it were to be held that it
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is the customary law in Goa which would prevail

over the personal law of the parties, the same

could not be a bar to the transfer of the matter

outside the State of Goa to any other State. What

would be of relevance is the finding arrived at by

the Bombay High Court in Goa in Monica Variato's

case (supra) that even applying the principles of

Private International Law, bearing in mind various

personal laws in this country, even though the

spouses are domiciled in Goa in respect of a

marriage performed outside Goa but in any other

State of the Union, they would be governed by their

personal laws in so far as dissolution of marriage

is concerned. Notwithstanding the fact that the

marriage between the parties had been conducted in

Goa, the same having been conducted under their

personal laws and under Hindu rites and traditions,

we are satisfied that the claim of the petitioner

is justified and there can be no difficulty in
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allowing the prayer of the petitioner.
 
IN A TRASFER PETITION THIS INTERESTING POINT RAISED AND IS VERY NICELY
SLOVED BY THEIR LORD SHIPS OF APEX COURT IN
Vinisha Jitesh Tolani
@ Manmeet Laghmani                            ..Petitioner

                            Vs.

Jitesh Kishore Tolani                         ..Respondent
FOR DETAILS SEE MY APEX COURT CASE LAW WEBSITE.