Hindu Marriage Acts

The Hindu Marriage Act, which came into power on18 May 1955, governs all the Hindu marriages. The Act has reformed the Hindu law of marriage and covers entire India except the state of Jammu & Kashmir.

Applicability
Only if both the parties are Hindus can the marriage take place under the Hindu marriage Act.
The Act applies to :

Any person who is Hindu, Buddhist, Jain or Sikh by religion.
Any person who is born to Hindu parents.
Any person who is not a Muslim Christian, Parsi or Jew, and who is not governed by any other law.

The Act does not apply :

To persons who are Muslims, Christians, Parsis or Jews by religion.
To members of the scheduled tribes coming within the meaning of clause (25) of Article 366 of the Constitution of India unless the Central Government by notice otherwise directs.

A marriage to be valid has to fulfill the following conditions:

Neither party should have a spouse living at the time of marriage. The spouse does not include a divorced husband/ wife.
At the time of marriage, the parties should be capable of giving a valid consent to the marriage. A person who is of a sound mind shall be considered to be a person capable to give a valid consent. Neither party, though capable of giving a valid consent should be suffering from mental disorder of such a kind or to such an extent as to be unfit for marriage and procreation of children. Neither party should be suffering from recurrent attacks of insanity or epilepsy.
The bridegroom should have attained the age of 21 years and the bride should have attained the age of 18 years at the time of marriage.
The parties should not be within the degrees of prohibited relationships, unless the customs or usage, permits such a marriage.

Two persons are said to be within the degrees of prohibited relationships :

If one is a lineal ascendant of the other. For example a Daughter can not marry her father and grandfather. Similarly, a mother can not marry her son or grandson.
If one was the wife or husband of a lineal ascendant or descendant of the other. For example, a son can not marry his stepmother. Similarly, a person can not marry his Daughter-in -Law or son -in-law.
If one was the wife of the brother or of the father's or mother's brother or the grandfather's or grandmother's brother of the other.
If the two are brother and sister; uncle and niece; Aunt and Nephew or children of brother and sister of two brothers or two sisters. It must have been noticed in some communities the marriage with the wife of the brother and mother's brother and the first cousins are solemnized, those marriages, in the absence of a custom in the community are not valid marriages.
A person can not marry upto his second cousin from the mother's side and upto his fourth cousin from the side of the father. It is also necessary the parties should not be apindas of each other from either side.

In case, either party has a spouse living at the time of marriage, within the degree of prohibited relationship and are apindas of each other, the marriage between the parties shall be null and void.

Essential Ceremonies
A Hindu marriage can take place according to the customary rites and ceremonies.
The ceremony of saptapadi and kanyadana are important ceremonies prevalent among vast majority of Hindus and the ceremony of saptapadi before the sacred fire has been held essential for a valid Hindu Marriage.

Registration
The marriages solemnized, may be registered under the Special Marriage Act with office of the registrar, in the Hindu Marriage Register.

Registration is not compulsory and in no way effects the validity of the marriage. It is entirely upto the parties to have the marriage registered.

No marriage can be registered unless the following conditions are fulfilled :

A ceremony of marriage has been performed between the parties and they have been living together as husband and wife.
Neither party has at the time of registration more than one spouse living.
Neither party is an idiot or lunatic at the time of registration.
The parties have completed the age of twenty one years at the time of registration
The parties are not within the degrees of prohibited relationship
The parties have been residing within the district of the Marriage Officer for a period of not less than thirty days immediately preceding the date on which the application is made to him for registration.
On receiving the application signed by both the parties the Marriage Officer shall give public notice and after allowing 30 days for objections and on being satisfied that all the conditions are fulfilled he shall enter a certificate in the marriage certificate book, which shall be signed by the parties and three witnesses.

Voidable Marriages
Voidable marriages are those which are void at the option of the aggrieved party. Such marriages can be annulled by a decree of nullity on any of the following grounds :

That her husband exchanged professing Christianity and gone through a form of marriage with another woman,
That the marriage has not been consummated owing to the impotence of the Respondent.
That the marriage is been performed with a person of unsound mind or having a mental disorder or suffering from recurrent attacks of epilepsy
That the consent of the Petitioner or its 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.
To succeed on this ground, it is necessary that the Petition must be presented in the Court within one year after the force has ceased to operate or the fraud has been discovered. It is also necessary that after the force has ceased or fraud discovered, the Petitioner has not, with consent, lived with the other side.
That the Respondent was at the time of marriage pregnant by some person other than the Petitioner.

View Comments

By Kapil (on Jan 17, 2012 04:45 PM)

I am a hindu and want to know whether i can legally marry wid my cousin in India...,we are blood relatives. can i marry my mom's sister 's daughter.....

By Gsoqcar628 (on Dec 17, 2011 10:11 AM)

best mma workout dvd - boxing workout dvd best friends athletic track p90x nutritional guide ab circle pro advanced workout torrent best finess dvd - elliptical dvd workout best abs workout for men at home - brooke burke workout dvd 2011

By Viju (on Dec 15, 2011 12:08 PM)

My husband has got one love before marriage.they both know each other from 8.5 years.mine is 2 years old marriage.she got a boy baby 5 years back but its not alive.he continued tht affair after our marriage.now i came to know all these things.we hv marriage certificate also.give me suggestion n my position according to hindu law.

By Vyvrrqh439 (on Dec 13, 2011 02:17 AM)

Zubari Novi Sad Stomatoloske Ordinacije Beograd Zubari - Zubari Beograd - Zubari - Stomatoloske Ordinacije U Novom Sadu - Stomatoloske Ordinacije Novi Sad Cenovnik Stomatoloske Ordinacije Stomatoloske Ordinacije Zemun

By Gayathri (on Dec 09, 2011 11:13 PM)

I am hindu , can i marry my mother's cousin sister's son in India but he is christian?

By Gayathri (on Dec 09, 2011 11:10 PM)

Can i marry with the mother's cousin sister's son?

By Purva (on Nov 21, 2011 09:26 PM)

I am a brahmin and is it valid according to hindu mythology to get married with the grandson of the real sister of my real grandmother?

By Lovely (on Nov 21, 2011 12:41 AM)

I am a christian and want to know whether i can legally marry my fourth cousin in India...,we are blood relatives.

By CoferesyBes (on Oct 21, 2011 06:34 AM)

I definitely appreciate your writing style. This is a good post! Thanks! burberry handbags

By Paresh (on Jul 17, 2011 10:53 PM)

I had alredy registered marriage in india with my love before 5 years but by situation she dunt knw about this registration n i dunt want she knws.now i married to u.s. citizen ..now is it problem in immigration ????

By Anand (on Apr 12, 2011 09:24 PM)

I want to clarify one matter please help me Shall is I enter marrage agreement with my lover insted of getting marrage registration

By Shraddha (on Mar 14, 2011 10:39 AM)

I am being forced by my parents to marry a boy of 30years and i am just 18. I dont want to marry is it legal. is there any act against this.

By RAJA (on Mar 11, 2011 10:29 PM)

I have registered with somebody before 3 years but not yet get married, can u tell me is the registry is valid or invalid now???

By S.Angel (on Mar 02, 2011 08:48 PM)

This is very useful because every one can know about the marriage act....

By P. N. Gupta (on Feb 28, 2011 04:45 PM)

Can a spouse get chanded is name by deleting adding cast to it after the certificate had been isued?

By Tanumoy (on Dec 13, 2010 11:45 PM)

Post social marriage, within how many days I can get Marriage registry certificate without any notice?

Add Your Website

Tell a Friend