Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Marriage
Hindu Marriage Act
1955
Changes Made by HMA, 1955
Sister Brother
Either parent’s sister Either parent’s brother
Daughter of brother or sisiter Son of a brother or sisiter
Conditions for a Hindu
Section 5 Marriage
▪ Monogamy
▪ Mental Capacity
▪ Sanpinda Relationship
Conditions for a Hindu
Section 5 Marriage
Monogamy
▪ The voluntary union for life of one man with one woman to
exclusion of all others
▪ It enacts that neither party must have a spouse living at the time of
marriage
▪ ‘Spouse’ here means a lawfully married husband or wife
▪ It is not voidable
▪ Void marriage and Succession of property by children : Yes
▪ Bhogadi Kannababu v Vuggina Pydamma AIR 2006 SC 2403
▪ The Supreme court held that this Section is not violative of Article
14 and 21 of the Constitution
– Saroj Rani v Sudarshan Kumar AIR 1984 SC 1562
– Reasonable excuse
▪ Correspondence
▪ Grounds
– Adultery
– Cruelty
– Desertion
– Conversion
– Unsound Mind
– Leprosy
– Venereal disease
– Legal death
– Polygamy
– Guilty of rape
Ingredients of Judicial
Separation
They continue to have the same status but are not under an
obligation to live together as husband and wife
▪ Consummation
– Ordinary and complete intercourse
– Test is complete penetration
– Perfect coitus and no discharge of semen in wife’s body
– Malformation or structural defects medical evidence
– Suo motu or on the request of the party Amol Chavhan v Jyoti Chavhan AIR
2012 MP 61
– Removal of Uterus is not impotency
Voidable(Section 12) Marriage
▪ Marriage by force
– Test is real and intelligent consent
Voidable(Section 12) Marriage
▪ Proof of adultery
– Circumstantial evidence
– Contagious disease in private parts
– Giving birth to child and proof of non access of husband
– Admission by party
▪ Ingredients
– Parties should be present physically
– Some degree of penetration of the female organ by the male organ
– Does not required of delivery of male seed in the female ovum
Cruelty Section 13(1)(ia)
▪ No definition of Cruelty
▪ Numerous and varied ways
▪ Russell vs Russell 1897AC (395)
– Conduct of such a character as to have caused danger to life, limb, or health
(bodily or mental) or as to give rise to a reasonable apprehension of such
danger
▪ Types of Cruelty
– Physical
– Mental
Cruelty Section 13(1)(ia)
▪ Mental Cruelty
▪ Mental pain and sufferings to the other spouse
▪ Type of life
▪ Economical and social conditions
▪ Their culture and human values
▪ Education
▪ Sentiments
Cruelty Section 13(1)(ia)
▪ Intention
– PL Sayal v Sarla AIR 1961 Punj 125
– Praveen Maheta v Inderjeet Mahata AIR 2002 Sc 2582
Desertion Section 13(1)(ib)
▪ Types of Desertion
– Actual desertion
– Constructive desertion
Desertion Section 13(1)(ib)
▪ Actual desertion
▪ Factum of separation
▪ Animus deserendi (intention of forsake) (factum and intent)
▪ Without the consent of the petitioner
▪ Without any reasonable cause
▪ For continuous period of two years immediately before
presentation of petition
▪ Constructive Desertion
– Desertion is not only withdrawal from place bit also from state of things
– Jyotish Chandra v Meera
– Namita Das v Amiya Kumar
▪ Termination of desertion
– Resumption of cohabitation
– Supervening Animus reverendi (Offer of reconciliation)
▪ Burden of proof
Conversion Section 13(1)(ii)
▪ Nitaben v Dhrendra
▪ Savita Bose v Noshad Ahmed
Unsoundness of Mind
Section 13(1)(iii)
▪ Psychopathic disorder
▪ Any other disorder or disability of mind
▪ Need to prove
– Incurable unsoundness of mind
– Mental disorder of such kind and to such an extent that it cannot be
expressed to live with that person
– Jitendra Choudhary v Sangeeta Mohapatra
– Pritam Kaur v Surat Singh
– Krishna Bhat v Srimathi
Leprosy, Venereal Disease,
Renunciation of world, Death
▪ Leprosy
– Party is suffering from leprosy
– It is virulent and incurable
▪ Venereal disease
▪ Renunciation of the world
– Person must have renounced the world and
– He must have entered into a holy order
▪ Presumption of death
– Ramrati Kuer v Dwarika Prasad
Grounds Available to Wife only:
Polygamous Marriage before 1955 Act
▪ Polygamous Marriage before 1955 Act
– The wives married were married to the person before the Act came into
force
– They are alive when petition is presented
– The marriage legally exist
– First or second wife can file case
▪ Compromise entered into by the wife would not take away her
right under this Section
– Nirmoo v Nikka Ram AIR 1968 Del 260
Grounds Available to Wife only:
Polygamous Marriage before 1955 Act
▪ The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 does not talk about the definitions
of rape, sodomy or bestiality
▪ Rape
– Definition of Rape is in Section 375 of IPC
– Even a husband can be convicted of raping of his wife if she is below the age
of 15
– Her consent is immaterial
▪ Sodomy
▪ Bestiality
Grounds Available to Wife only:
Maintenance
▪ Section 19
– Every petition under Act shall be presented to the district court within the
local limits of whose ordinary original civil jurisdiction
▪ The marriage was solemnized
▪ The respondent, at the time of presentation of the petition resides
▪ Parties to the marriage last resided together
▪ In case wife is the petitioner where she is residing on the date of presentation of
the petition