New Delhi, Dec. 7: The Supreme Court has upheld a high court ruling nullifying the marriage of a Hindu woman to a Christian man, who concealed his religion and registered the alliance under the Hindu marriage act.

Bandaru Pavani claimed that Gullipilli Sowria Raj said he was a Hindu and married her according to Hindu rites in a temple on October 24, 1996. The marriage was performed only with a mangalsutra ceremony in the absence of any representative from either family, she said. It was registered under Section 8 of the Hindu marriage act on November 2, 1996.

But in March the following year, Pavani filed a petition before a Visakhapatnam family court to nullify the marriage. She said Raj had falsely claimed to be a Hindu when his family was Roman Catholic. The court dismissed her plea but on an appeal Andhra Pradesh High Court upheld it.

In the September 2002 order, the high court said the marriage between a Hindu and a Christian was not valid under the Hindu Marriage Act,1955.

In January 2003, Pavani remarried but Raj moved the Supreme Court over this.

He claimed that the Hindu marriage act does not preclude a Hindu from marrying a person of another faith.

But Pavani’s counsel argued that each religious community has its own form of marriage which excluded members of other communities. The Indian marriage act recognises a marriage between a Christian and a non-Christian, but only under the provisions of the special marriage act.

The apex court upheld the high court’s view that the marriage was not valid under the Hindu marriage act.

The preamble of the act specifically says that it was enacted to codify the law relating to marriage among Hindus, the apex court bench said.