Dear Legal Experts of India,
I approach you with a very difficult question on my mind which has been bothering me since quite many months.I hail from south india, parents are originally from Tamilnadu but we have since moved to Bangalore, where I currently reside. I am a christian and I want to marry my First Cousin ( My mother's brothers Daughter). My uncle married a muslim girl after conversion so the girl is technically a Muslim ( she hails from another country). Understand from the legal perspective it is not Legal in most parts of the country under the special marriage Law.
I have done a fair bit of research online and consulted a few lawyers as to whether my marriage with my Cousin would be legal. I do not want to get into a Christian marriage Act( due to some personal reasons), but want to go for the Special marriage ACT ( 1954) instead.The responses I have recieved have been varied. Most Lawyers have told me that First cousin marriages with Cross cousins( such as my Mom's brothers daughter) are Legal in South india.
However when I look at the Special Marriage ACT under the proviso for the relaxation of the rule:“In this section ‘custom’ in relation to a person belonging to any tribe community, group or family, means any rule which the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify in this behalf as applicable to members of that tribe, community, group or family.”
Could you help and guide me as to where can I find this notification? How do I verify whether there has been a notification from the gov in south india in it's State Gazette ( in this case Karnataka where I currently reside) that it is legal to marry First (cross) cousions.
As you would know, the community that I come from( Tamilnadu), it is a common practice to marry First cousins( i.e. Mother's Brother daughter).
Also, I understand that although Special Marriage Act has a proviso for relaxation on the ground of custom, that however, this does not entail the parties personal law.
Your valuable thoughts on this matter would be highly appreciated as it is important to me that my marriage with my cousin be Legal in every aspect.
keenly looking forward to all your valuable insights into this matter.
Thanks,
Solomon