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Watch out! Your Hindu wedding may not be legal

  • Bombay High Court’s Nagpur bench stated that according to the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, without customary ceremonies and rituals a marriage cannot be approved.
  • The judges of the Nagpur bench stated that the woman failed to prove that she was the legally wedded wife of the Marwari man.
Watch out Your Hindu wedding may not be legal

According to the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court, a Hindu couple’s wedding cannot be termed legal if it is not completed with customary ceremonies and rituals.

 

The bench quashed a Nagpur Family court’s verdict (which was given on April 1, 2015) while granting divorce to a man. The verdict said that the man had to cohabitate with the woman.

 

But the Bombay High Court’s Nagpur bench stated that according to the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, without customary ceremonies and rituals a marriage cannot be approved.

Watch out Your Hindu wedding may not be legal

"Unless the marriage is celebrated or performed with proper ceremonies and in due form, it can't be said to have been solemnized. Thus, ceremonies as claimed by the wife were not prescribed by law or approved by custom. Therefore, the marriage doesn't come within the purview of Section 7 of the Hindu Marriage Act," the bench comprising justice Bhushan Dharmadhikari and justice Swapna Joshi was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

 

"As per Hindu Marriage Act's provisions, the marriage must be performed as per the ceremonies, rites and rituals recognized by either of the parties. Even importance is given to 'Saptapadi' in Hindu marriage. Admittedly, no such ceremonies were performed."

 

The divorcee Maharashtrian woman and the man performed their marriage inside a flat after the latter put a Mangalsutra around the former’s neck. Subsequently, the two started living together in the same place with the woman’s children from the previous marriage.

Watch out Your Hindu wedding may not be legal

Few days later the woman lodged a rape case against the man and also a divorce case at the Nagpur Family Court. It was then when the previous verdict was given in 2015. But the judges of the Nagpur bench stated that the woman failed to prove that she was the legally wedded wife of the Marwari man.

 

"She was not a young girl unaware of sanctity of marriage. It's indigestible that at 36 years, she wasn't aware of the rites, rituals and ceremonies of marriage. She didn't succeed in proving the marriage as per Brahmin or Marwari community. If a marriage is alleged to have been performed as per modified form of Shastric Hindu Law, it must be pleaded and proved as a custom,” the bench added.

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