Infertility not ground to annul marriage: Jharkhand High Court rejects husband’s plea

“The Hindu Marriage Act has no doubt made an inroad into the close preserve of the ancient Hindu Law strongly suggesting the marriage as a sacrament and not a contract, which still goes strong,” the August 18 order said.

The order added, “both the Hindu Marriage Act and Contract Act are not pari materia (on the same subject) as the former deals with marriages and the other deals with contract and commerce. Therefore, the definition of fraud given under the Contract Act cannot be brought with lock, stock and barrel to a marriage which is a sacrament.”

Justices Sujit Narayan Prasad and Pradeep Kumar said that the evidence clearly established that the man knew about his wife’s medical condition.

Marriage, medical history and legal battle

The couple got married in 2017. He claimed that soon after the marriage, his wife was indifferent and refused consummation, and frequently stayed at her parental home. He also said she suffered from repeated health problems and that he spent around Rs 10 lakh on her treatment.

According to the husband, his wife had undergone surgery for a cyst and ovary problem in 2011, before their marriage. He claimed he discovered her old medical records only in October 2022 while cleaning his house. He alleged that she suffered from a chronic autoimmune condition, which he said had been concealed from him before marriage.

He claimed that he consulted a doctor in 2022 and learnt about the seriousness of her condition and its possible impact on her ability to conceive. He alleged that his wife and her family had deliberately concealed these facts, and that his consent to the marriage was therefore through fraud.

He approached the family court seeking nullity of the marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act, arguing that his consent had been obtained by fraud. The Family Court dismissed his suit, following which he moved the high court.

Advocate Hemant Jain for the man argued that the Family Court had wrongly concluded that he knew about his wife’s medical condition in 2018. According to him, while he knew that she had health problems and took her for treatment, he learnt the true nature and consequences of her illness only in October-November 2022, after finding his wife’s old medical records.

He argued that hiding her reproductive health was a deliberate move, and such concealment amounted to fraud under the Hindu Marriage Act. It was contended that since the wife did not file any written statement or evidence, the man’s case remained undisputed and should have been accepted.

Fraud claim fell short

The court said that it was a settled position of law that the Hindu Marriage Act does not deal with fraud in a general way, nor does it deal with every misrepresentation or concealment, the object of which may be fraudulent.