A Hindu woman marrying a Christian man will not be considered legal, if either of them have not converted, the Madras High Court said on Thursday.

According to a PTI report, a Madras High Court bench comprising of Justice PR Shivakumar and justice VS Ravi have ruled that to a solemnise an inter-religion marriage, either the Hindu woman should convert to Christianity, or the man should convert to Hinduism.

Since their marriage would not be valid as per the Hindu Marriage Act, the court asked the couple to register their marriage under the Special Marriage Act, 1954.

The High Court bench made the observation during a case involving a couple, who claimed that they got married in a Hindu temple. The court but asked how can the marriage be legal as per Hindu law, as the man was a Christian and he had not converted.

Since the woman was a major, the court, however, said - dismissing the petition filed by her parents - that she cam "go anywhere she likes though they had not married as per law," the bench in Madurai said.