Under the Hindu Marriage Act, Section 5 of the Act provides specific conditions that must be met for the marriage to be completed. So it is a valid wedding. What then is a null, null, and voidable Marriage?
Void
Under the Act, Section 11 speaks about void marriage. A wedding becomes void when that person dissection 5 (i), section 5 (iv), and section 5 (v). But after marriage, if it has to be null and void, then a petition has to be filed before the court if the marriage that was denied is denying the clauses of section 5 which provided under section 11 went.
This marriage has been void since the beginning and hence the parties are not husband and wife, which also says that in such a marriage the wife cannot get maintenance.
Voidable
As per the Act of 1955, Section 12 mentions voidable marriages and provides the basis for such weddings, in which the defendant may be impotent, causing non-consumption of the marriage, in section 5 (2) Denies a given condition when there is valid consent was not given, the other party became pregnant through someone else and similarly is given under Sec.
Such a wedding becomes voidable as per the option of the other party and both the parties are husband and wife, hence the wife can get maintenance in this marriage.
Null Marriage
The nullity or nullity of a marriage is that such a wedding has no existence or in other words, no valid wedding makes such a marriage null and void.
In M. M. Malhotra Vs Union of India, the Supreme Court noted that:
Clause (i) of section 5 is a necessary condition for a valid marriage, neither party should have a spouse at the time of the wedding. A wedding in violation of this condition is, therefore, null and void. Due to the side effect of the matrimonial act mentioned in section 4, no assistance can be sought on earlier Hindu law or any practice or use as a part of that law inconsistent with any provision of this law.
As far as Section 12 is concerned, it is limited to other categories of marriages and does not apply in violation of Section 5 (i) of the Act. Sub-section (2) of section 12 imposes further restrictions on such rights. The cases covered by this section are not under zero effect and remain in effect until all the conditions mentioned herein are met and the aggrieved party exercises the right to avoid it.
Marriages covered by Section 11 are void ipso jur, meaning void from the very beginning, and would have to be ignored if such a question does not exist in law.
Although this section allows a formal declaration to be made at the presentation of a petition, it is not necessary to obtain such a formal declaration in advance from the court in proceedings initiated specifically for this purpose. Do you want to know more about this? “Contact Us”
