Registering the same marriage twice

Thank you for the prompt reply, Sir. Then what about the religion of the child born to us?

Originally posted by : VISAKH
	Hello. I'm a Hindu and I'd been in relationship with a Christian girl which both of our families did not approve of. Due to adverse circumstances, we secretly married under SMA, 1954. We're not living together. Now my father approves of the relationship and has agreed to the marriage under one condition - that she converts to Hinduism (and obviously the marriage be registered under Hindu Marriage Act). She's okay with conversion. So my question is can I keep the first registration under wraps, proceed with the conversion and register the marriage again under Hindu Marriage Act? If not, what are the other available options?

You can keep the registeration under wraps and proceed with the Hindu marriage.  No harm will come out of it now as a lot of people do Court marriage and thereafter do their own religious ceremonies. The only time problem will come will be during the dissolution of your marriage as that time you will have to file under the Special Marriage Act. 

Hope you shall take IT positively…

You could have married with consent and blessings of parents and elders on both sides…

Apparently you decided to marry 1st and convince parents later as per your own circumstances ..

Now you are already married….

Tell your and her father and parents and show the certificate..

Your spouse’s faith is choice and freedom of your spouse and so the conversion.

My individual suggestion is that No one may force anyone (e.g; spouse as in query) for conversion…

Avoid such demands also coming on any kind of record..

IT is your married life and you and your spouse should take such decisions..

Since you decided to marry 1st and convince parents later and have succeeded as well to accept the marriage try on other front as well i.e. to accept the spouse with independence to practice faith and religion by choice/freedom…

If the spouse wants to convert by free/independent decision then let IT be independent decision of spouse….

Achieve this task as well with our own efforts and skills; persuasion, persistence, reasoning….Remain amiable and gentle..

Your family and family of your spouse may decide on customary/ceremonial party/reception  to be perfomed...

Religion of Children;

Once again both of you (spouses) may achieve an understanding………..

Since one of spouses is Hindu ( Father in your case) and IF the child is brought up as Hindu (record evidences for future references) then child is Hindu…

On attaining adulthood the child can chose his/her faith…..i.e. religion.

You may also go thru the notifications issued by your state govt if any for children born out of interfaith/inter religion marriages

You may also appraise yourself with issues pertaining to succession…

Special Marriage Act, 1954

21. Succession to property of parties married under Act.

https://lawmin.nic.in/ld/P-ACT/1954/A1954-43.pdf

Thank you ma'am ! Appreciate the swift response ! :)

Thank you Sir !

Will go through the succession laws in detail.

My neighbour here is a Brahmin. He is one of two brothers. They were two young boys in an orthodox Brahmin family.  In due course the elder boy got married to a Brahmin girl and went to live separately. After some more years we were not seeing the younger boy. Several years later he returned with his wife and two children, a boy and a girl. Our other neighbors   said that he was asked to go out as he had married a Christian, but now they are reconciled and he has come back. After some years the grand-father got the thread ceremony of the boy performed.

Years passed the grand-father died. After some more years the grandmother also died. After the death of the grandmother, the two brothers and their families together performed all the ceremonies normally performed in a Brahmin household. There was the customary feast on the last day, which I also attended. When the guests were leaving after the lunch, the girl standing at the door handed over to each one of us a copy of the Bhagavad-Gita. While receiving the copy of the Gita I felt, which I did not tell the girl “You have proven the Gita wrong.

Gita says

Some months back the boy (son of the Christian lady) got married to a Brahmin girl.

I do not think the family narrated above was worried about the questions you are asking here.

The story Ramani told us looks like it is from a Telugu movie....

If you want to make a movie in Telugu or in any other language, I shall not claim any copyright. If you want I shall ask whether any of the characters is willing to act. The original member and his son, who married a Christian, the present member were/are my fellow members in the same co-operative housing society. When you want to marry, marry. Do not worry about succession laws. The family, I narrated, never consulted any lawyer at any stage, to the best of my knowledge. I do not know under what act the boy married the Christian girl to begin with. It might have been under the Special Marriages Act. Or it would have been a Christian marriage in a Church. When the father got his son and family back home, he did not get them converted to Hinduism or Brahminism. When he felt that the thread ceremony of his grandson was to be performed, he called a priest and got it done. All of them including the Christian lady have Hindu names. I do not know whether they were their original names or later adopted names. Many Christians, particularly women, have original Hindu names. It is very usual. The Grandfather had nominated his wife and two sons for the flat. He had also executed a similar will. On his death the sons produced the will first. I told them (I was the Secretary) that they would have to probate the will. They withdrew the will and applied for transfer in accordance with the nomination. The mother had nominated the two sons. Now the flat is in the name of the two sons. No one has worried about the succession laws. As for religion, it is just what they claim.