Section 49 of SMA : Section 49: Correction Of Errors

Explanation using Example

Imagine a couple, Aarav and Maya, who had a court marriage under the Special Marriage Act. After receiving their marriage certificate, they notice that Maya's birth date is incorrectly entered as May 15, 1990, instead of the correct date, May 25, 1990. They report this to the Marriage Officer who officiated their marriage.

Within a month of this discovery, the Marriage Officer schedules a meeting in his office. Since Aarav and Maya are available, they both appear before the officer. In the presence of Aarav and Maya, the officer corrects the error by making a marginal entry next to the original birth date entry in the Marriage Certificate Book. He writes the correct date, signs next to the correction, and adds the current date to indicate when the correction was made.

To comply with the law, the officer asks Aarav and Maya to attest the correction by also signing the margin. This ensures that all parties agree that the change reflects the true information.

Finally, because the original incorrect entry had already been sent to the Registrar-General, the Marriage Officer prepares a separate certificate detailing both the original error and the correction made. He then sends this certificate to the Registrar-General to update their records accordingly.