The remedy provided under the Special Marriage Act can only be resorted to for acts and conduct which took place under the Act.

1. This is an appeal filed by the petitioner in O.P. No.35 of 1984, District Court, Trichur, under S.39 of the Special Marriage Act, 1954 (in short, the Act) and 0.41 R.1 C.P.C. The petitioner filed the application for divorce of her marriage with the respondent under S.27 of the Act. The respondent married the petitioner on 29-6-1981 at Marthoma Church, Kunnamkulam, according to the rules, rites, ceremonies and customs of the church. Stating that the respondent has committed cruelty and it is impossible for the petitioner to continue the marital relationship, the petitioner filed the petition for divorce of the marriage under S.27 of the Act. Amongst other pleas, the respondent contended that the petition is not maintainable. The Court below held that since there is no case that the marriage was registered under the Act, the petition filed by the appellant (petitioner) for divorce of her marriage with the respondent under S.27 of the Act is unsustainable. The petitioner has come up in appeal.

2. We heard counsel for the appellant, Mr. Mathews P. Mathew and counsel for the respondent. Appellant's counsel referred to the preamble of the Act as also S.24.25 and 27 of the Act and contended that there is nothing in the Act, which would exclude the application thereof to the case of the petitioner, no matter, that the marriage was one solemnised according to the rules, rites, ceremonies and customs of the church, to which the parties belong. Reliance was placed on a decision of the Rajasthan High Court in Chistopher Andrew Neelakantan v. Mrs. Anne Neelkantan (AIR 1959 Raj. 133). On the other hand, counsel for the respondent placed considerable reliance on S.15,18 and 27 of the Act, as also the decision of the Allahabad High Court in Aulvin V. Singh v. Chandrawati (AIR 1974 All. 278) and contended that the petition filed under S.27 of the Act in the instant case is not maintainable. On hearing the rival contentions of the parties, we are inclined to accept the plea of the respondent.

3. After adverting to the decision of the Rajasthan High Court in Chistopher Andrew Neelakantan's case (AIR 1959 Raj. 133), Yashoda Nandan J. in Aulvin V. Singh's case (AIR 1974 All. 278) at pages 280 and 281 observed as follows:

"Our country is inhabited by persons professing different faiths. We have consequently side by side existing different laws relating to marriages, divorce and dissolution of marriages applicable to persons of different religions. The Indian Christian Marriage Act (Act XV of 1872) and the Indian Divorce Act (Act IV of 1869) deal with the law of marriage and divorce for Christians. The Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936 (Act III of 1936) is concerned with the marriage and divorce among Parsis domiciled in this country. Marriages of Mohammedans and divorces between them are governed not only by the Shriyat law but also by the Dissolution of Muslim. Marriages Act, 1936. The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (Act XXV of 1955) similarly provides for the essential qualifications of those who are married under the provisions of that Act, the basic formalities to be undergone by those entering into matrimony, the conditions under which restitution of conjugal rights can be claimed, the grounds on which a marriage can be declared a nullity as also the manner and the ground on which a marriage under Act XXV of 1955 may be dissolved.

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S.15 of the Act of 1954 throws considerable light on the question raised before me with regard to the maintainability of the petition presented by the appellant under S.27 of the Act. That provision runs as follows:

"Any marriage celebrated, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, other than a marriage solemnised under the Special Marriage Act, 1872 (3 of 1872), or under this Act, may be registered under this Chapter by a Marriage Officer in the territories to which this Act extends if the following conditions ate fulfilled, namely:

(a) a ceremony of marriage has been performed betwee