VALID RAVISH-VIVIDHA MARRIAGE: Law As It Stands In India

Hello All

On the request of some of the members of the forum, I am 'copy-paste'-ing various parts of my reply to a member named -poloenigma-'s post with the heading:

"What HINDU LAW says about marriage..."

As a lawyer, I would like to clarify that Ravish-Vividha marriage, as it stands today, is actually valid.

Many in this forum have mistakenly misquoted the law.

The first provisions that that were wrongly quoted were Section 5 (ii) (a) and Section 5 (ii) (b) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. The same reads and here I quote from the Bare Act:-

Section 5, in its relevant part, reads "Condition for a Hindu Marriage- A marriage may be solemnized between any two Hindus, if the following conditions are fulfilled, namely:

(ii) at the time of the marriage, neither party,-

(a) is incapable of giving a valid consent of it in consequence of unsoundness of mind; or

(b) though capable of giving a valid consent has been suffering from mental disorder of such a kind or to such an extent as to be unfit for marriage and the procreation of children".

"Validity of consent", as read in law [HMA, Section 5 (ii) (a)], has a rider that of insanity. Neither Ravish nor Vividha was insane at the time of marriage. So, one cannot legally apply this provision to invalidate Ravish-Vividha's marriage.

Further, if Section 5 (ii) is violated, the marriage is not considered void but voidable (as stated by Section 12 of HMA). However, in Ravish-Vividha's case, if we try to apply Section 5, the marriage is neither void nor voidable, but perfectly valid.

Even the interpretation of the other provision (given in the "fraud argument"), was wrong. To explain the same, I'll quote the relevant Section (Section 12 of the HMA) as it stands.

Section 12 (1) (c) in the relevant part states that:

"Voidable Marriages- (1) Any marriage shall be voidable and may be annulled by a decree of nullity on any of the following grounds, namely:-

(c) that the consent of the Petitioner was obtained by fraud as to the nature of the ceremony or as to any material fact or circumstance concerning the Respondent. "

Here as interpreted by the Supreme Court, the word fraud cannot be taken in isolation but, is followed by the fulfilment of either of the two conditions:

• fraud as to the nature of the ceremony (which means that Vividha did not realize that she was getting married which is not the case here as she knew at the time of the marriage that she was, in fact, getting married).
• fraud as to any material fact or circumstance concerning the Respondent (nothing material regarding Ravish was hidden from Vividha by Ravish or his family, so this ground is also inapplicable).

Thus, as it stands right now, Ravish-Vividha's marriage is perfectly legal and cannot be annulled on the ground of either "invalidity of consent" or "commission of fraud".

It seems some members have misunderstood the provisions of HMA. I am neither a RaVidha-shipper nor am I against ViTharv. I actually like Atharv's character very much.

In conclusion, I would like to profusely apologize, if I am unintentionally hurting the sentiments of either fan group. As you may have seen, I am not drawn into petty fan wars (I have praised both Ravish and Atharv equally in the past, without showing any bias towards either of them). My writing this post does not mean that I am against true love or that I do not want ViTharv to be together. My intention is only to clarify the position of law by stating the law as it stands today (anyone may refer to the Bare Act to confirm the same). If anyone still has any doubts regarding the validity of the marriage of Ravish-Vividha, you may state the same and I'll be happy to clarify.

sincere regards

Priya

Originally posted by: AdorableAnusha

Thank you for making it a topic

i already told you i didnt have much knowledge about law so your post was very informative for me

Based on my common sense i knew Vividha Ravish's marriage is valid now your post on legal perspective too confirms it It is a legally vaild marriage Vividha was not under drugs but she was fully conscious when marrying she knew what she is doing , she was not at gun point if she wanted she could reveal the truth on marriage day itself , she married Ravish making a deal with her father and later she said to her husband and in laws this marriage happened with her consent , she even decided to move on in this marriage when she found from her mother Atharva is safe and moved on so seriously the court wont take all this into consideration and allow Vividha annulment just like that ? No , the couple will have to go through divorce and Ravish has a say in that I am sure he will divorce her He already verbally broken ties with her but saying he does not stand anywhere in it Vividha can annul this marriage anytime just like that is totally unfair Their marriage is legal on every perspective

Originally posted by: determination

Frankly speaking Vividha has no legal ground (as she stands today) to even ask for divorce. Only Ravish legally speaking can ask for the same under Hindu Marriage Act (under Section 13).

BTW, may I call you Anusha?

yeah you call me Anusha Thats my name

Originally posted by: AdorableAnusha

yeah you call me Anusha Thats my name

Yes The ball is in Ravish's court . He can divorce her and remarry her boyfriend

Bang on post TM

Agree completely. Marriage is social institution and need social consent. No one can be get married just by chanting own Vachan in front of God. Nope can't be acceptable. Ravish and Vividha marriage is valid from the very first day and still valid. just by taking out Mangalsutra by themself can not nullify their marriage.

Thank You for making many of us here in the forum understand better , where the laws explained in depth actually make sense than some copy pasting what one could find on internet. They r misinformed themselves but are so confident in sharing the same misinterpretations to others misleading them to believe that their points are valid and there can't be any second argument. In circumstances as such ur post is something that's actually knowledgeable and hopefully will give a clear perspective to everyone who is in the dark about this topic.

Normal people like us have very little or no knowledge about the cases as such which is why I've always refrained from commenting on the topics related to law. Throwing away words without knowledge is not wise afterall.

Neither am I a shipper or sailor or whatever,I've watched jndsd before ravish too but now I'm a more regular viewer than before that's all.

Well neede post.Thanks for sharing knowledge about Hindu marriage law.
Loved your post and clean content.once again thanks for valid informatiin