(1) Any marriage solemnised, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, shall be voidable and may be annulled by a decree of nullity on any of the following grounds, namely:—
(a) that the marriage has not been consummated owing to the imporence of the respondent; or
(b) that the marriage is in contravention of the condition specified in clause (ii) of section 5; or
(c) that the consent of the petitioner, or where the consent of the guardian in marriage of the petitioner was required under section 5 as it stood immediately before the commencement of the Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Act, 1978 (2 of 1978)], the consent of such guardian was obtained by force or by fraud as to the nature of the ceremony or as to any material fact or circumstances concerning the respondent; or
(d) that the respondent was at the time of the marriage pregnant by some person other than the petitioner.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), no petition for annulling a marriage—
(a) on the ground specified in clause (c) of sub-section (1) shall be entertained if—
(i) the petition is presented more than one year after the force had ceased to operate or, as the case may be, the fraud had been discovered; or
(ii) the petitioner has, with his or her full consent, lived with the other party to the marriage as husband or wife after the force had ceased to operate or, as the case may be, the fraud had been discovered;
(b) on the ground specified in clause (d) of sub-section (1) shall be entertained unless the court is satisfied—
(i) that the petitioner was at the time of the marriage ignorant of the facts alleged;
(ii) that proceedings have been instituted in the case of a marriage solemnised before the commencement of this Act within one year of such commencement and in the case of marriages
solemnised after such commencement within one year from the date of the marriage; and
(iii) that marital intercourse with the consent of the petitioner has not taken place since the discovery by the petitioner of the existence of 6[the said ground].
Tag: HM Act 12 – Voidable marriages
Yuvraj Digvijay Singh Vs Yuvrani Pratap Kumari on 2 May, 1969
The division bench of Apex Court held as follows regarding how to prove non-consummation of marriage under Hindu Marriage Act 1955.
Yuvraj Digvijay Singh Vs Yuvrani Pratap Kumari on 2 May, 1969A party is impotent if his or her mental or physical condition makes consummation of the marriage a practical impossibility. The condition must be one, according to the statute, which existed at the time of the marriage and continued to be so until the institution of the proceedings. In order to entitle the appellant to obtain a decree of nullity, as prayed for by him, he will have to establish that his wife, the respondent, was impotent at the time of the marriage and continued to be so until the institution of the proceedings.
Citations : [1970 AIR SC 137], [1969 SCC 2 279], [1970 SCR 1 559], [1970 AIR SC 1373]
Other Sources :
https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1514023/
https://www.casemine.com/judgement/in/5609ab60e4b014971140c4a5
The UK case law is here.
The Index is here.
