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In accordance with Section 5(i) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, neither party should have a living spouse at the time of the second marriage. The court ruled that a violation of this condition renders the second marriage void under Section 11 of the Act, and the consent of the parties cannot validate the marriage.
The Delhi High Court has in a significant ruling clarified on the validity of second marriages under the Hindu Marriage Act, of 1955. High Court has emphasized that when either of the parties has a living spouse, their consent cannot confer validity on a second marriage.
In accordance with Section 5(i) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, neither party should have a living spouse at the time of the second marriage.
A division bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Neena Bansal Krishna has ruled that a violation of this condition renders the second marriage void under Section 11 of the Act, and the consent of the parties cannot validate the marriage.
The case in question involved a wife who challenged a family court order that declared her marriage null and void upon the husband's petition. The parties had married in 2009. The wife had been previously married to another man but was granted a divorce in 2008. However, her first husband had appealed the divorce.
The wife acknowledged that she became aware of her first husband's pending appeal in December 2008, but the appeal was only withdrawn in 2012.
Due to differences in their second marriage, the husband petitioned to annul the marriage, arguing that the wife's first marriage was still subsisting. The family court held that because the first husband's appeal was pending when the wife remarried, the second marriage was null and void.
Delhi High Court upheld the family court's decision, emphasizing that the wife was aware of the pending appeal when she entered into a second marriage in 2009. Section 15 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, dictates that if the dissolution of the first marriage is not confirmed, the marriage is considered subsisting at the time of the second marriage, contrary to Section 5(i) of the Act.
Furthermore, the court noted that the wife had claimed maintenance from her first husband during the pending appeal, which was granted in September 2009. This action reinforced the finding that the marriage had not been conclusively dissolved. The court, therefore, upheld the family court's declaration of nullity under Section 11 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
The Case Title and Party's name has been withheld.
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