In a major judgement, the Supreme Court docket mentioned a Hindu marriage can’t be termed conclusive within the “absence of a sound ceremony” below the Hindu Marriage Act. The courtroom contended {that a} Hindu marriage will not be an occasion for “track and dance” and “wining and eating” because it holds profound significance past mere festivities. Justices BV Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih underscored {that a} Hindu marriage is a sacred sacrament, to not be neglected within the absence of a sound ceremony below the Hindu Marriage Act.
This is what courtroom noticed:
This statement got here throughout a case involving two business pilots looking for a divorce with no correct bridal ceremony. The courtroom urged younger people to replicate on the sanctity of marriage in Indian society, emphasising its standing as a cherished establishment. “A wedding will not be an occasion for ‘track and dance’ and ‘wining and eating’ or an event to demand and alternate dowry and presents by undue stress resulting in potential initiation of felony proceedings thereafter. A wedding will not be a business transaction. It’s a solemn foundational occasion celebrated in order to ascertain a relationship between a person and a girl who purchase the standing of a husband and spouse for an evolving household in future which is a fundamental unit of Indian society,” the bench mentioned.
The bench additionally termed marriage as a sacred bond that fosters lifelong dedication, dignity, equality, consent, and a wholesome union between two people. It emphasised that Hindu marriage not solely allows procreation but in addition strengthens household bonds and promotes communal concord inside numerous communities. “We deprecate the apply of younger women and men looking for to amass the standing of being a husband and a spouse to one another and due to this fact purportedly being married, within the absence of a sound bridal ceremony below the provisions of the (Hindu Marriage) Act resembling within the prompt case the place the wedding between the events was to happen later,” the bench mentioned.
Court docket affirms sacredness of Hindu Marriage rituals
In its April 19 order, the bench mentioned the place a Hindu marriage will not be carried out in accordance with the relevant rites or ceremonies resembling ‘saptapadi’ (taking seven steps by the groom and the bride collectively earlier than the sacred hearth), the wedding won’t be construed as a Hindu marriage. “We additional observe {that a} Hindu marriage is a sacrament and has a sacred character. Within the context of saptapadi in a Hindu marriage, in response to Rig Veda, after finishing the seventh step (saptapadi) the bridegroom says to his bride, ‘With seven steps we have now change into mates (sakha). Might I attain to friendship with thee; might I not be separated from thy friendship’. A spouse is taken into account to be half of oneself (ardhangini) however to be accepted with an identification of her personal and to be a co-equal companion within the marriage,” it mentioned.
‘Marriage registration would not legitimize illegitimate unions’
The highest courtroom highlighted that the benefit of marriage registration is that it facilitates proof of factum of a marriage in a disputed case but when there was no marriage in accordance with Part 7 of Hindu Marriage Act, “the registration wouldn’t confer legitimacy to the wedding”. Exercising its complete authority below Article 142 of the Structure, the apex courtroom dominated that the estranged couple’s marriage was not carried out in compliance with the legislation. Consequently, the wedding certificates issued to them with no legitimate ceremony below the Hindu Marriage Act was deemed null and void. Moreover, the courtroom dismissed their divorce proceedings and overturned a dowry case filed in opposition to the husband and his members of the family.
(With PTI inputs)
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