A Hindu marriage can’t be recognised within the “absence of a sound ceremony” underneath the regulation.
New Delhi:
A Hindu marriage shouldn’t be an occasion for “tune and dance”, “wining and eating” or a business transaction, the Supreme Court docket has noticed and mentioned it can’t be recognised within the “absence of a sound ceremony” underneath the Hindu Marriage Act.
A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih mentioned a Hindu marriage is a ‘samskara’ and a sacrament which needs to be accorded its standing as an establishment of nice worth in Indian society.
In its latest order handed within the matter of two skilled business pilots, who sought a divorce decree with out performing a sound Hindu wedding ceremony, the bench urged younger women and men to “suppose deeply concerning the establishment of marriage even earlier than they enter upon it and as to how sacred the mentioned establishment is, in Indian society”.
“A wedding shouldn’t be an occasion for ‘tune and dance’ and ‘wining and eating’ or an event to demand and alternate dowry and presents by undue stress resulting in potential initiation of felony proceedings thereafter. A wedding shouldn’t be a business transaction. It’s a solemn foundational occasion celebrated in order to determine a relationship between a person and a lady who purchase the standing of a husband and spouse for an evolving household in future which is a fundamental unit of Indian society,” the bench mentioned.
Terming the wedding as sacred because it offers a lifelong, dignity-affirming, equal, consensual and wholesome union of two people, the bench mentioned a Hindu marriage facilitates procreation, consolidates the unit of household and solidifies the spirit of fraternity inside numerous communities.
“We deprecate the apply of younger women and men in search of to amass the standing of being a husband and a spouse to one another and due to this fact purportedly being married, within the absence of a sound wedding ceremony underneath the provisions of the (Hindu Marriage) Act resembling within the prompt case the place the wedding between the events was to happen later,” the bench mentioned.
In its April 19 order, the bench mentioned the place a Hindu marriage shouldn’t be carried out in accordance with the relevant rites or ceremonies resembling ‘saptapadi’ (taking seven steps by the groom and the bride collectively earlier than the sacred hearth), the wedding is not going to be construed as a Hindu marriage.
“We additional observe {that a} Hindu marriage is a sacrament and has a sacred character. Within the context of saptapadi in a Hindu marriage, based on Rig Veda, after finishing the seventh step (saptapadi) the bridegroom says to his bride, ‘With seven steps we have now develop into associates (sakha). Could I attain to friendship with thee; might I not be separated from thy friendship’. A spouse is taken into account to be half of oneself (ardhangini) however to be accepted with an id of her personal and to be a co-equal accomplice within the marriage,” it mentioned.
In Hindu Legislation, marriage is a sacrament or a ‘samskara’ and it’s the basis for a brand new household, the bench famous, and mentioned, “There’s nothing like a “better-half” in a wedding however the spouses are equal halves in a wedding.” Observing that with the passage of centuries and the enactment of the Act, monogamy is the one legally authorised type of relationship between a husband and a spouse.
“The (Hindu Marriage) Act has categorically discarded polyandry and polygamy and all different such kinds of relationships. The intent of the Parliament can be that there needs to be just one type of marriage having various rites and customs and rituals,” it famous.
The bench mentioned after the Act got here into drive on Could 18, 1955, it had codified the regulation regarding marriage amongst Hindus and it encompasses not solely Hindus as such however Lingayats, Brahmos, Aryasamajists, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs additionally who can enter into a sound Hindu marriage coming throughout the expansive connotation of the phrase Hindu.
“Until the events have undergone such ceremony, there can be no Hindu marriage based on Part 7 of the (Hindu Marriage) Act and a mere issuance of a certificates by an entity within the absence of the requisite ceremonies having been carried out, would neither affirm any marital standing to the events nor set up a wedding underneath Hindu regulation,” it mentioned.
The highest court docket highlighted that the benefit of marriage registration is that it facilitates proof of factum of wedding ceremony in a disputed case but when there was no marriage in accordance with Part 7 of Hindu Marriage Act, “the registration wouldn’t confer legitimacy to the wedding”.
It famous that underneath the Particular Marriage Act, 1954, a person and a lady can purchase the standing of being a husband and a spouse as per the provisions of the mentioned Act. “The Particular Marriage Act, 1954 shouldn’t be restricted to Hindus. Any man and lady regardless of their race, caste or creed can purchase the standing of being a husband and a spouse underneath the provisions of the Particular Marriage Act, 1954 however underneath the provisions of the Act (Hindu Marriage Act, 1955), there mustn’t solely be compliance of the circumstances as prescribed underneath Part 5 of the mentioned Act but additionally the couple should solemnise a wedding in accordance with Part 7 of the Act,” it mentioned.
Exercising its plenary powers underneath Article 142 of the Structure, the highest court docket declared the estranged couple weren’t married in accordance with the regulation and held the wedding certificates issued to them in absence of legitimate ceremony underneath the Hindu Marriage Act as null and void.
It additionally quashed their divorce proceedings and a dowry case lodged in opposition to the husband and his relations.
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