Hindu marriage not valid ‘unless performed with ceremonies in proper form’: SC

The top court reminded that “a (Hindu) marriage is not an event for ‘song and dance’ and ‘wining and dining’ or an occasion to demand and exchange dowry and gifts by undue pressure leading to possible initiation of criminal proceedings thereafter”.

The bench further said, “A marriage is not a commercial transaction. It is a solemn foundational event celebrated so as to establish a relationship between a man and a woman who acquire the status of a husband and wife for an evolving family in future which is a basic unit of Indian society. A Hindu marriage facilitates procreation, consolidates the unit of family and solidifies the spirit of fraternity within various communities. After all, a marriage is sacred for it provides a lifelong, dignity-affirming, equal, consensual and healthy union of two individuals. It is considered to be an event that confers salvation upon the individual especially when the rites and ceremonies are conducted.”

Delving into the provisions of the Hindu Marriage Act, the bench said that “unless and until the marriage is performed with appropriate ceremonies and in due form, it cannot be said to be ‘solemnised’ as per Section 7(1) of the Act”.

It pointed out that “further, sub-section (2) of Section 7 states that where such rites and ceremonies include the saptapadi, i.e., the taking of seven steps by the bridegroom and the bride jointly before the sacred fire, the marriage becomes complete and binding when the seventh step is taken. Therefore, requisite ceremonies for the solemnisation of the Hindu marriage must be in accordance with the applicable customs or usage and where saptapadi has been adopted, the marriage becomes complete and binding when the seventh step is taken”.

The court was dealing with a plea by a woman seeking the transfer of a divorce petition from a court in Muzaffarpur, Bihar to a court in Ranchi, Jharkhand. During the pendency of the petition, she and her former partner, both trained commercial pilots, decided to resolve the dispute by filing a joint application under Article 142 of the Constitution of India.

The couple were engaged to be married on March 7, 2021, and claimed to have ‘solemnized’ their marriage on July 7, 2021. They obtained a “marriage certificate” from Vadik Jankalyan Samiti and based on this certificate, secured a ‘Certificate of Registration of Marriage’ under the Uttar Pradesh Marriage Registration Rules, 2017. Their families fixed the date for the marriage ceremony as per Hindu rites and customs on October 25, 2022. Meanwhile, they lived separately but differences cropped up between them and cases followed.

The bench said that “where a Hindu marriage is not performed in accordance with the applicable rites or ceremonies such as saptapadi when included, the marriage will not be construed as a Hindu marriage. In other words, for a valid marriage under the Act, the requisite ceremonies have to be performed and there must be proof of performance of the said ceremony when an issue/controversy arises”.

“Unless the parties have undergone such ceremony, there would be no Hindu marriage according to Section 7 of the Act and a mere issuance of a certificate by an entity in the absence of the requisite ceremonies having been performed, would neither confirm any marital status to the parties nor establish a marriage under Hindu law,” the court said declaring as null and void the certificate issued by Vadik Jankalyan Samiti and the ‘marriage certificate’ issued under the Uttar Pradesh Registration Rules, 2017, as proof of “Hindu marriage”.

The bench said that if there has been no marriage in accordance with Section 7, the registration would not confer legitimacy to the marriage.

The court explained that “a Hindu marriage is a sacrament and has a sacred character. In the context of saptapadi in a Hindu marriage, according to Rig Veda, after completing the seventh step (saptapadi) the bridegroom says to his bride, “With seven steps we have become friends (sakha). May I attain to friendship with thee; may I not be separated from thy friendship”. A wife is considered to be half of oneself (ardhangini) but to be accepted with an identity of her own and to be a co-equal partner in the marriage. There is nothing like a “better-half” in a marriage but the spouses are equal halves in a marriage. In Hindu Law, as already noted, marriage is a sacrament or a samskara. It is the foundation for a new family”.

Such union provides them with the status and character of being a husband and wife in society, the bench said, and added that in this context, “We deprecate the practice of young men and women seeking to acquire the status of being a husband and a wife to each other and therefore purportedly being married, in the absence of a valid marriage ceremony under the provisions of the Act such as in the instant case where the marriage between the parties was to take place later”.

The court pointed out that any man and woman can acquire the status of husband and wife under the Special Marriage Act, 1954, which is not restricted to Hindus.

The bench said that “in recent years, we have come across several instances where for “practical purposes”, a man and a woman with the intention of solemnisation of their marriage at a future date seek to register their marriage under Section 8 of the Act on the basis of a document which may have been issued as proof of ‘solemnisation of their marriage’ such as in the instant case.”

It added, “We note that parents of young couples agree for registration of a marriage in order to apply for Visa for emigration to foreign countries where either of the parties may be working ‘in order to save time’ and pending formalising a marriage ceremony. Such practices have to be deprecated. What would be the consequence if no such marriage is solemnised at all at a future date? What would be the status of the parties then? Are they husband and wife in law and do they acquire such status in society?”

The Supreme Court said that “the customary ceremonies, with all its attendant geographical and cultural variations is said to purify and transform the spiritual being of an individual” and the 1955 Act “solemnly acknowledges both the material and spiritual aspects of this event in the married couple’s lives”.

The order said that “besides providing a mechanism for registration of marriages in order to confer the status of a married couple and acknowledge rights in personam and rights in rem, a special place is given to rites and ceremonies in the Act. It follows that the critical conditions for the solemnising of a Hindu marriage should be assiduously, strictly and religiously followed. This is for the reason that the genesis of a sacred process cannot be a trivial affair. The sincere conduct of and participation in the customary rites and ceremonies under Section 7 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 ought to be ensured by all married couples and priests who preside over the ceremony”.

The bench said that “the promises made to each by the parties to a Hindu marriage and the oath taken by them to remain friends forever lay the foundation for a life-long commitment between the spouses which should be realized by them. If such commitment to each other is adhered to by the couple, then there would be far fewer cases of breakdown of marriages leading to divorce or separation”.