(1) When the marriage has been solemnized, the Marriage Officer shall enter a certificate thereof in the Form specified in the Fourth Schedule in a book to be kept by him for that purpose and to be called the Marriage Certificate Book and such certificate shall be signed by the parties to the marriage and the three witnesses.
(2) On a certificate being entered in the Marriage Certificate Book by the Marriage Officer, the Certificate shall be deemed to be conclusive evidence of the fact that a marriage under this Act has been solemnized and that all formalities respecting the signatures of witnesses have been complied with.
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 13
Section 13 of the Special Marriage Act, 1954 provides for the issuance and conclusive evidentiary effect of the Certificate of Marriage.
Sub-section (2) enacts a potent evidentiary mandate: on a certificate being entered in the Marriage Certificate Book by the Marriage Officer, the certificate shall be deemed to be conclusive evidence of the fact that a marriage under this Act has been solemnized and that all formalities respecting the signatures of witnesses have been complied with.
The conclusive evidentiary presumption under Section 13(2) is of extraordinary legal power. Unlike ordinary marriage certificates under personal laws which are merely prima facie proof, an entry in the Marriage Certificate Book under Section 13 conclusively estops collateral challenges to the factum of marriage, serving as unshakeable proof in passport, immigration, banking, and inheritance matters.