HC annuls Christian's marriage with Hindu

A city-based Christian boy, who wanted to divorce his Hindu wife, was horrified to find that his marriage with her did not stand at all! Nilesh Narin married Kashmira Banker as per Hindu rituals in April 2002 and they were blessed with a child the following year. However, Kashmira deserted Nilesh in 2006, which made him approach the Ahmedabad family court claiming that his wife was married to one Ashish Surti in 1998 which was still valid when he married Kashmira. Therefore, the court should declare his marriage with Kashmira void. To his surprise, the court held that their marriage was not legal at all and there was no question of declaring it void on grounds that Nilesh gave. Kashmira contested the case and proved in court that she had already divorced her first husband before marrying Nilesh. But at the end of the case, Nilesh came out of the court in March this year dejected, when the judge concluded that the court cannot declare the marriage void the way he wanted. The family court judge held that the marriage could not be considered legal and valid as per Hindu Marriage Act, because one of them was not a Hindu during marriage. Nilesh then moved Gujarat High Court to declare his marriage void. His counsel cited an Andhra Pradesh High Court’s order holding that a marriage between a Christian and a Hindu taken place as per Hindu rituals is ‘void ab initio’ and therefore a nullity, which was also upheld by the Supreme Court. After hearing the case, a division Bench of Justice RM Doshit and Justice SD Dave observed that such a marriage is void as per law and the family court should have declared it annulled. The High Court finally declared the marriage as void.

"Loved reading this piece by Jithendra.H.J?
Join LAWyersClubIndia's network for daily News Updates, Judgment Summaries, Articles, Forum Threads, Online Law Courses, and MUCH MORE!!"

Join our Telegram group

Join our Whatsapp group