akshay patel (lawyer) 01 March 2010

hindu marriage nullity

a husband at the time of second marriage conceals the fact of his first marriage and divorce, and Register the second Marriage before Marriage Registrar by stating the fact that this is his first marriage and second wife also ignorant about his first marriage and divorce.

now the question is that can a second wife file a divorce petition on the ground of concealment of fact regarding previous marriage/divorce.

what is the remedy availabe. whether to file a decree of nullity of marriage or to file a divorce petition in family court.

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12 Replies

Suchitra. S (Advocate) 01 March 2010

Yes, the second wife should ask for nullity of marriage under S. 11 of HMA, if they are Hindus.

akshay patel (lawyer) 01 March 2010

the problem is that the first marriage of husband was duly dissolved by the decree of divorce. but the question is that during the second marriage he concealed the fact of his first divorce before second wife and aslo base on wrong misrepreasentation before marriage registrar he registrar the marriage.

i think the above situation dosen't covered under 11(i) of HMA

Suchitra. S (Advocate) 01 March 2010

Sir, you are misleading me with your facts.. :) If the husband had divorced his first wife through Court of law, then his second marriage is a valid one. Now if the second wife wants to file a case not to live with him anymore, she should file a divorce case.

akshay patel (lawyer) 01 March 2010

NOW ITS CLEAR....I THINK SECOND WIFE HAS ONLY REDEDY AVAILABLE WITH THER TO FILE A DIVORCE PETITION AGAINST HUSBAND.

Suchitra. S (Advocate) 01 March 2010

Yes, Sir. :) But she can apply for divorce only after the completion of one year of marriage.

akshay patel (lawyer) 01 March 2010

YOU ARE RIGHT BEFORE ONE YEAR OF MARRIAGE PARTY NEED ASK FOR PERMISSION TO PREASENT PETITION UNDER SECTION 14(1) OF HMA.

adv. rajeev ( rajoo ) (practicing advocate) 01 March 2010

Hai Chitra

Nice answers you have given.

Anil Agrawal (Retired) 01 March 2010

On what ground she will ask for divorce? Suppression of the fact of his first marriage?

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Suchitra. S (Advocate) 01 March 2010

Sir, wife has many grounds for divorce. It is for men that the grounds are fewer. :)

Anil Agrawal (Retired) 01 March 2010

Let us conjure up some grounds in the above case.

1 Like

Raj Kumar Makkad (Adv P & H High Court Chandigarh) 02 March 2010

Wife can file divorce petition including this also as one of grounds but this is not the sole ground to get divorce.

akshay patel (lawyer) 02 March 2010

concealment of fact of previous marriage amounts to cruelty? is this a valid ground? i think this is not a strong ground? please tell me if any one have ruling regarding above ground.