In a case where a couple sought a divorce without performing a valid Hindu marriage ceremony, the Court explained that marriage was a sacred, lifelong bond and registration alone would make it null and void
By Dr Swati Jindal Garg
In a recent judgment, the Supreme Court observed that a Hindu marriage is not an event for “song and dance”, “wining and dining” or a commercial transaction, and cannot be recognised in the “absence of a valid ceremony” under the Hindu Marriage Act. A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih reiterated that a Hindu marriage is a “samskara” and a sacrament which has to be accorded its status as an institution of great value in Indian society. These orders were passed in a case where two commercial pilots sought divorce without performing a valid Hindu marriage ceremony.
The plea filed by the woman pilot sought transfer of the divorce petition from a court in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, to a court in Ranchi, Jharkhand. During the pendency of the petition, she and her former partner, also a pilot, decided to resolve the dispute by filing a joint application under Article 142 of the Constitution. The couple who got engaged in March 2021 claimed to have “solemnised” their marriage on July 7, 2021, after obtaining a marriage certificate from Vadik Jankalyan Samiti. Based on this certificate, they secured a “Certificate of Registration of Marriage” under the Uttar Pradesh Marriage Registration Rules, 2017. Their families, however, had fixed the marriage ceremony as per Hindu rites and customs on October 25, 2022, but before that could happen, differences cropped up between them and cases followed despite the fact that they had been living separately.
The bench after perusing the facts of the matter urged young men and women to “think deeply about the institution of marriage even before they enter upon it and as to how sacred the said institution is, in Indian society”. The Court added: “A marriage is not an event for ‘song and dance’ and ‘wining and dining’ or an occasion to demand and exchange dowry and gifts by undue pressure leading to possible initiation of criminal proceedings thereafter. A marriage is not a commercial transaction. It is a solemn foundational event celebrated so as to establish a relationship between a man and a woman who acquire the status of a husband and wife for an evolving family in future which is a basic unit of Indian society.”
The Court said that marriage is a sacred bond that provides a lifelong, dignity-affirming, equal, consensual and healthy union of two individuals and a Hindu marriage not only facilitates procreation, but also consolidates the unit of family and solidifies the spirit of fraternity within various communities.
The Hindu Marriage Act came into force on May 18, 1955, and it had, for the first time, codified the law relating to marriage among Hindus, encompassing also Lingayats, Brahmos, Aryasamajists, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs. Delving into the provisions of the Hindu Marriage Act, the bench said that “unless and until the marriage is performed with appropriate ceremonies and in due form, it cannot be said to be ‘solemnised’ as per Section 7(1) of the Act”.
Section 7(2) of the Hindu Marriage Act states that where such rites and ceremonies include the saptapadi (the taking of seven steps by the bridegroom and the bride jointly before the sacred fire), the marriage becomes complete and binding when the seventh step is taken.
In the light of these facts, the Court not only declared the certificate issued by Vadik Jankalyan Samiti null and void, but also the marriage certificate issued under the Uttar Pradesh Registration Rules, 2017, as proof of “Hindu marriage” a nullity.
Citing the ancient texts, the Court also stressed the importance of ceremonial practices for the solemnisation of a valid Hindu marriage. “We further observe that a Hindu marriage is a sacrament and has a sacred character. In the context of saptapadi in a Hindu marriage, according to Rig Veda, after completing the seventh step (saptapadi) the bridegroom says to his bride, ‘With seven steps we have become friends (sakha). May I attain to friendship with thee; may I not be separated from thy friendship’. A wife is considered to be half of oneself (ardhangini) but to be accepted with an identity of her own and to be a co-equal partner in the marriage,” the Court said.
It further clarified that as far as the registration of a marriage that has not been properly solemnised goes, the registration facilitates proof of factum of the wedding in a disputed case, but if there has been no marriage in accordance with Section 7 of Hindu Marriage Act, “the registration would not confer legitimacy to the marriage”.
The bench said that in order to facilitate documentation, the culture of obtaining a marriage registration certificate based on cooked up papers is on the rise. It said that “in recent years, we have come across several instances where for ‘practical purposes’, a man and a woman with the intention of solemnisation of their marriage at a future date seek to register their marriage under Section 8 of the Act on the basis of a document which may have been issued as proof of ‘solemnisation of their marriage’ such as in the instant case”.
Warning all parents of the repercussions of such acts, the Court said: “We note that parents of young couples agree for registration of a marriage in order to apply for Visa for emigration to foreign countries where either of the parties may be working ‘in order to save time’ and pending formalising a marriage ceremony. Such practices have to be deprecated. What would be the consequence if no such marriage is solemnised at all at a future date? What would be the status of the parties then? Are they husband and wife in law and do they acquire such status in society?”
Enumerating the importance of traditional rituals, the Court urged that “the customary ceremonies, with all its attendant geographical and cultural variations is said to purify and transform the spiritual being of an individual” and the 1955 Act “solemnly acknowledges both the material and spiritual aspects of this event in the married couple’s lives”.
It cannot be denied that such is the importance of the rites and ceremonies that even the Act holds a special place for them. Even though the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, provides a proper mechanism for the registration of marriages in order to confer the status of a married couple to men and women marrying under it, it does not do away with the requirement of following the customary rites and ceremonies that are required at the time of marriage. It hence follows that the critical conditions for the solemnising of a Hindu marriage should be assiduously and religiously followed and cannot be done away with.
The Court said that there is no doubt that “the promises made to each other by the parties to a Hindu marriage and the oath taken by them to remain friends forever lay the foundation for a life-long commitment between the spouses which should be realized by them. If such commitment to each other is adhered to by the couple, then there would be far fewer cases of breakdown of marriages leading to divorce or separation”.
This judgment is sufficient proof of the fact that no matter how advanced we may become, roots will always matter and any deviation from the rules set by tradition, shall be at the cost of person who takes the risk.
—The writer is an Advocate-on-Record practicing in the Supreme Court, Delhi High Court and all district courts and tribunals in Delhi