Ahmedabad: In a significant verdict, the Gujarat High Court has ruled that registration alone cannot validate a Hindu marriage if customary rites and ceremonies are not performed.
Despite their geographical and cultural variations, these customary ceremonies are believed to purify and transform the spiritual being of an individual, the high court said in its order.
The court was hearing an appeal filed by a UK-based man challenging a family court’s decision refusing to declare an alleged marriage between the parties as void.
Quashing the family court’s order passed in November, the division bench of Justices Ilesh Vora and R T Vachhani said that essential ceremonies like ‘saptapadi’ is the foundation of a Hindu marriage.
‘Saptapadi’, which is the taking of seven steps by the bridegroom and the bride jointly before the sacred fire, provides a marriage with the spiritual, social and legal status as a sacrament and samskara, the court noted in its June 23 order, the copy of which was made available on Tuesday.
Kaushal Sonar, the appellant, had sought the marriage between parties to be declared null and void.
Sonar told the court he resides in the UK while the defendant lives in Ahmedabad, and that he learnt about the alleged marriage only when the defendant approached his parents and handed over a marriage certificate claiming that she is his lawfully wedded wife.
Sonar claimed he hadn’t solemnised any marriage with the defendant, never performed any Hindu rites and ceremonies, and never lived with her as husband. He also alleged that his signature on the marriage documents was obtained fraudulently.
The bench said that when the woman admitted before the family court that no marriage rites or ceremonies had been performed between the parties and the two never shared the relationship of husband and wife, the family court made an error by dismissing the petition filed by the appellant.
The court referred to section 7 of the Hindu Marriage Act, which talks about solemnising a Hindu marriage in accordance with customary rites and ceremonies to make a marriage complete and binding.