Hindu marriage void despite valid certificate if Saptapadi not performed: Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court recently held that a registered marriage certificate cannot by itself validate a Hindu marriage if the essential ceremonies required under the Hindu Marriage Act were never performed [Kaushal Pramodbhai Sonar v. Khushi Sanjay Shah]. .A Division Bench of Justices Ilesh J Vora and RT Vachhani said a marriage certificate is only proof of a marriage that has already been validly solemnised. It cannot create a valid marriage where the essential Hindu marriage ceremonies were never performed. The Court explained that under Section 7 of the Hindu Marriage Act, a Hindu marriage must be solemnised according to the customary rites and ceremonies of either party. Where those ceremonies include Saptapadi (the bride and groom jointly taking seven steps before the sacred fire), the marriage becomes complete and legally binding only upon the seventh step.“The word ‘solemnized’ used in Section 7 means that the marriage must be performed in the proper manner and with the required ceremonies… In the absence of such solemnization, there is no valid Hindu marriage in the eyes of law,” the Court observed..The case arose from an appeal filed by a man residing in the United Kingdom after a family court refused to declare an alleged marriage between him and a woman (respondent) as null and void.The man claimed that he came to know about the alleged marriage only after the woman approached his parents with a marriage certificate claiming that she was his legally wedded wife. He contended that he had never married her, never performed any Hindu rites or ceremonies and had never lived with her as husband and wife. He also alleged that while working in the company owned by the woman’s father, his signatures on the marriage documents were obtained fraudulently by promising him a promotion or threatening termination..During the proceedings, the woman herself admitted in her written statement that no marriage rites or ceremonies had been performed, no lawful marriage had been solemnised and that the parties did not share the relationship of husband and wife.Despite these admissions, the family court refused to declare the marriage void, holding that the existence of a registered marriage certificate raised a presumption of a valid marriage and therefore, the matter required a full-fledged trial.The man then approached the High Court. .The High Court held that once the woman herself admitted that the essential ceremonies required for a Hindu marriage had never been performed, there was no reason to compel the parties to undergo a lengthy trial. It added that registration under Section 8 of the Hindu Marriage Act only facilitates proof of a marriage that has already been validly solemnised and cannot, by itself, create the legal status of husband and wife..The Bench also referred to the significance of Saptapadi in Hindu tradition, noting that the Rig Veda states that after the seventh step, the bridegroom tells the bride: “With seven steps we have become friends (sakha). May I attain friendship with you and may I never be separated from that friendship.”A Hindu marriage is a samskara (sacrament), the Court said. Marriage is not merely an occasion for “song and dance” or “wining and dining”, nor is it a commercial transaction. Rather, it is a solemn institution through which a man and a woman enter into a lifelong, equal and consensual relationship to build a family, the Court underscored.Therefore, it held that a mere marriage certificate cannot create a valid Hindu marriage in the absence of such essential ceremonies required under the Hindu Marriage Act..Hence, the Court declared the alleged marriage null and void and permitted the man to approach the competent authority for cancellation of the marriage registration and the marriage certificate..[Read Order]