Grounds for Declaring Nullity in a Hindu Marriage
Tue, 02/09/2010 - 17:48 — LIG Reporter
Under old laws, a Hindu marriage could be declared null and void if the religious ceremony of the saptapadi was not complied with or if it was an inter caste marriage or a sagotra marriage. The new Act brought forth some path breaking changes that grants nullity of marriage on different grounds compared to the old laws.
Grounds for Nullity Proceedings in a Hindu Marriage
- If a marriage has not been consummated due to impotence of either party.
- If the bride was pregnant at the time of the marriage by some person other than the bridegroom and the latter was not aware of it at the time of the marriage. If the bridegroom knew of this before the marriage, the marriage cannot be nullified.
- If the consent of one of the parties to the marriage was obtained by fraud or force.
Three Interesting Cases
- In Shewanti v Bhaura AIR 1971 MP 168, it was held that sterility or barrenness cannot be equated with impotency if the marriage has been consummated.
- In Samar Sam v Sadhaha AIR 1975 Cal 413, it was held that the removal of the wife’s uterus before marriage does not become a valid cause for annulment of a marriage on the ground of impotency.
- In Rajinder Singh v Smt Pomilla, AIR 1987 Del 285, it was held that concealment of the bride’s age by falsely representing that she is younger than the husband when she was actually seven years older than him, amounts to fraud and the marriage can be annulled.
Comments
I need to check if i can seek divorce , if my husband had tld me that he is graduate when he not, at the time of marriage and i found that after marriage that he lied to me.
You can only seek divorce if you stopped relations with him on discovering the fraud and bring the divorce case within one year of finding out the fraud.
Concealment of the facts and misrepresenting is amounts to fraud and the marriage can be annulled
my wife needs to get separated by me immediately ( got marrid last month ) ...and demanded to give divorce of impotence ground which iam not...or she thretened to put me under dowry cases...
My son got marrid on 30th may 2010. his wife is not ready to accept the marrigr not ready for sex reletions not behaving normal. she was in love with some person. her work place is far she is avoiding to come home. what can be done
To 2010-10-03
The reason a wife claims impotence by the husband is that this is a ground for annulling or voiding the marriage, i.e. making the legal position that there has been no marriage, as soon as the court gets around to hearing her petition. If the husband want's a quiet life, best thing is to agree to the annullment provided the wife and her family sign an agreement not to repeat the claim of impotence outside of the court petition.
The wife can also claim an annullment if she can make a case that she was forced into the marriage.
If the husband doesn't agree to voiding the marriage, then the couple have to go for divorce, which requires the couple to live apart for a year, if the divorce is by mutual consent.
To 2010-10-13
The case is difficult without knowing the girl's mind - if she is willing to state that she was forced into the marriage, it can be voided. It might also be possible to claim that the husband was cheated into the marriage, especially if the girl has carried on relations with "some person"
To both:
Getting a marriage voided is a tricky business and you need to consult a lawyer with successful track record in such petitions. Also, wife threatening to bring fake dowry harassment case is a growing problem as the law favours the woman. Seeing a good divorce lawyer is strongly recommended.
"In Rajinder Singh v Smt Pomilla, AIR 1987 Del 285, it was held that concealment of the bride’s age by falsely representing that she is younger than the husband when she was actually seven years older than him, amounts to fraud and the marriage can be annulled."
I am searching the same i.e. concealment of age case. you have posted the above case in your site which is false information. Is there any case which support this issue. Plz tell me urgently.
My friend got married and his wife concealed some very important facts of her life. It was arrange marriage and was fixed with Parents involvement from both sides. After marriage they never came together by mind and heart, always used get into arguments every day.
After 10-11 months of marriage my friend discovered that his wife is not observing her menstrual periods at all, not single month she got period. After fights she admitted that from childhood she is not observing menstrual periods, and there is physical problem. Also her parents were involved in serious multiple fraud cases, her dad got years of Imprisonment. After discovering these facts my friend collapsed, his heart was broken and he found himself cheated by her wife and her relatives.
His point is, if the above facts were disclosed before fixing marriage, he would have thought twice before saying “yes” to this marriage proposal, but these facts were deliberately concealed and his consent for marriage was taken fraudulently. Why he would marry to a girl who has physical problem and who is from criminal family background??
Now my friend applied Nullity of marriage case within 1 year of discovering the facts. What do you suggest would he get justice? In return his wife also applied for maintenance (how can she ask for maintenance as she only cheated his husband!!) Who will get justice?
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I got married in Dec 2004, marriage was registered in Jan 2005...
from Jan 2010 I am not living with that person (its around 2 years now)... and not willing to stay with him anymore...I NEVER felt/feel that I am married and was very frustrated and unhappy in all those years... in time of 5 years that person NEVER satisfied me physically or we NEVER had SEX ... he never even could make me laugh just by sharing a joke...after 2-3 years I started asking for baby but that person could never perform sexually... it use to b me asking to have Intercourse to have baby but that person failed to do it... he use to be done doing nothing...I asked him to go to Doctor but he did not take it seriously... even I myself bought Ayurvedic strength (physical strength) medicines for him but he did not take... I remember asking him "Why do not you use condom" ... he did not give any answer.... he NEVER used condom... I never saw him excited/keen for sex or anything.... he is very timid...slow and NARROW in case of expressing him self... it was arranged marriage against my will and I NEVER loved him or liked him but still tried to make marriage happen ....many many times he said "give me last chance to improve"... but his timid, boring, narrow attitude never changed... I use to force myself to try to continue marriage...but finally I gave up... can I apply to NULLIFY (VOID) marriage... I feel very peaceful now as I have left that person... and I feel bad that I forced my self and put my self under frustration for years...Please guide
Dear User,
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We request you to enter your query by using the "Ask for Legal Advice" section on the site. That will help us direct this to the most relevant lawyers.
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