Gujarat High Court has ruled that registration alone cannot validate a Hindu marriage if customary rites and ceremonies such as Saptapadi — the seven sacred steps a couple take around a fire — are not performed, adding that a marriage is not merely an occasion for "song and dance".
The verdict by the bench of Justice Ilesh J. Vora and Justice R.T. Vachhani came on an appeal filed by a UK-based man — Kaushal Pramodbhai Sonar — challenging the decision of a family court that had refused to declare his purported marriage as void. The high court set aside the family court's order, declaring the marriage null and void. The high court granted Kaushal the liberty to seek cancellation of the marriage registration before the competent authority.
Sonar, employed in a company owned by the defendant's father, had contended that he learned of the so-called marriage only when the respondent approached his parents with a marriage certificate claiming to be his lawfully wedded wife. He stated he never solemnised any marriage, never performed Hindu rites and ceremonies, and never lived with the Ahmedabad-based defendant as husband and wife. Kaushal alleged that his signature on the marriage documents had been obtained fraudulently without his free consent.
In its June 23 order, the high court said the customary marriage ceremonies, despite their geographical and cultural variations, were believed to purify and transform the spiritual being of an individual. It said the performance of essential ceremonies like Saptapadi was the foundation of a Hindu marriage, adding that such rituals bestow on a marriage its spiritual, social and legal status as a sacrament and samskara.
The high court noted that when the defendant woman unequivocally admitted before the family court that no marriage rites or ceremonies were performed between the parties and the two never shared the relationship of husband and wife, the family court committed an error by dismissing the petition filed by the appellant.
The high court referred to Section 7 of the Hindu Marriage Act, which deals with solemnising a Hindu marriage in accordance with the customary rites and ceremonies, such as Saptapadi, to make the union complete and binding.
The court said that since no marriage rites and ceremonies were performed, the basic and essential requirement of a Hindu marriage is absent in the present case.
The court added: "In Hindu tradition, a wife is regarded as one-half of her husband (ardhangini), while at the same time being recognised as an individual with her own identity and as an equal partner in the marriage. Under Hindu Law, marriage is considered a sacrament or samskara. It forms the foundation of a new family."
“A Hindu marriage is a samskara and a sacrament, and it must be given its due status as an institution of great importance in Indian society. We, therefore, urge young men and women to carefully consider the institution of marriage before entering into it and to understand the sacred nature of this institution in Indian society,” the court observed.
It said that a marriage was “not merely an occasion for song and dance or wining and dining” or a commercial transaction, but “a solemn and foundational event” for a man and a woman to enter into a relationship and build a family.
“A marriage is sacred because it creates a lifelong, dignified, equal, consensual and healthy union between two individuals. It is also regarded as an event that helps an individual attain salvation, particularly when the prescribed rites and ceremonies are duly performed,” the high court added.
Gujarat High Court held that the registration of a Hindu marriage under Section 8 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, serves only as evidence of a marriage already validly solemnised under Section 7, and does not by itself make a marriage valid or legal where the essential customary rites and ceremonies have never been performed.
The court said: “The purpose of registration under Section 8 is only to provide evidence and proof of a marriage that has already been validly solemnised in accordance with Section 7 of the Act. Registration under Section 8 does not, by itself, make a marriage valid or legal if the essential ceremonies required under Section 7 have not been performed. In other words, a Hindu marriage can be validly registered only if a marriage has first been solemnised in accordance with Section 7. If no such marriage has actually taken place, any registration made or certificate issued will have no legal effect and will not create the legal status of husband and wife between the parties.”
Section 7 of the Hindu Marriage Act says: “Ceremonies for a Hindu marriage — (1) A Hindu marriage may be solemnised in accordance with the customary rites and ceremonies of either party thereto.(2) Where such rites and ceremonies include the Saptapadi (that is, the taking of seven steps by the bridegroom and the bride jointly before the sacred fire), the marriage becomes complete and binding when the seventh step is taken.”
The high court also referred to the Supreme Court judgment in 2024 in the Rathnamma & Ors vs Sujathamma & Ors case in which it was held that merely getting a marriage certificate does not validate the marital status of a couple under the Hindu Marriage Act. The top court had said a marriage is solemnised in accordance with various ceremoniesprescribed under the legislation, such as Saptapadi.’’