Annulment of marriage

According to section 11 of Hindu Marriage Act if some of the conditions provided under Section 5 are not met, then the marriage is considered as void ab initio i.e. invalid from the beginning. The conditions for void marriage are:

1. Either of the party has spouse living at the time of the marriage
2. Are in prohibited relationships or are sapindas of each other

Section 12 of the act talks about voidable marriages. These marriages are not void ab initio i.e. void from the beginning. These marriages are valid until either of the party approaches the court for the annulment of the marriage. In other words, these marriages become void at the option of either of the party.

The marriages are considered as voidable under section 12 of the act on the basis of following grounds:

1. That the marriage has not been consummated by the parties of a marriage due to the inability of the respondent
2. That either of the party is of unsound mind or if either of the party was incapable of giving valid consent at the time of the marriage due to unsoundness of mind.
3. If the consent of the petitioner was obtained by fraud or force for the marriage or any material situation connected with the respondent
4. That the respondent was pregnant by some person other than the petitioner at the time of the marriage.

The main difference between void and voidable marriages is that void marriages are invalid from the beginning and voidable marriages are valid until the affected party wishes to annul such marriage.

We at Chaklan and associates assists our clients in getting their marriage annulled and also assist our clients in contesting annulment of marriage filed by the other spouse.