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Synopsis

While quashing a bigamy case against a woman, in a recent judgment, the Allahabad High Court emphasized that the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 recognizes Saptapadi (saat phere) as a crucial component for the validation of a Hindu marriage.

"Where marriage is disputed, it is not enough to find that marriage took place leaving it to be presumed that rites and ceremonies necessary to constitute a legal marriage were performed. In absence of cogent evidence in this regard, it is difficult to hold that the 'Saptapadi ceremony' of the marriage as contended by the complainant was performed so as to constitute a valid marriage between the parties concerned," observed a single judge bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh.

Saptapadi involves the bride and groom jointly taking seven symbolic steps around the sacred fire during the Hindu wedding ceremony.

The matrimonial dispute originated from a 2017 marriage. Soon after the marriage, the applicant-wife, filed a First Information Report (FIR) against her husband and her in-laws, alleging dowry harassment.

However, in 2021, a twist emerged as the husband raised a complaint, asserting that his wife had contracted another marriage prior to their divorce.

Upon the issuance of summons by a magistrate court, the applicant-wife sought relief from the High Court, through her present petition seeking to quash the summons and the proceedings of the complaint case.

Before the high court, despite the woman's denial of the husband's allegations, he claimed to possess compelling evidence supporting her alleged remarriage.

He had appended the photograph of the alleged second marriage of the woman.

However, following a meticulous evaluation of the presented evidence, the high court concluded that there was no substantiating proof of the completion of the necessary ceremonies for the purported second marriage.

So far as the alleged photograph is concerned, this Court is of the view that photograph is not sufficient to prove the factum of marriage, especially when the same are not proved on record in accordance with the Evidence Act, said the court. 

Court said that:

"It is well settled that the word 'solemnize' means, in connection with a marriage, 'to celebrate the marriage with proper ceremonies and in due form'. Unless the marriage is celebrated or performed with proper ceremonies and due form, it cannot be said to be 'solemnized'. If the marriage is not a valid marriage, according to the law applicable to the parties, it is not a marriage in the eyes of law".

Court added that it is also well settled that to constitute an offence under Section 494 I.P.C., it is necessary that the second marriage should have been celebrated with proper ceremonies and in due form.

Therefore, highlighting that as the 'Saptapadi' ceremony under Hindu Law is one of the essential ingredients to constitute a valid marriage but the said evidence was lacking in the present case, court quashed the summoning order and further proceedings of complaint case against the woman. 

Case Title: Smriti Singh & Ors v. State & Another