Hindu Marriage Act 1955

A couple in Thane marry in January. By March they are barely speaking. One of them wants out and asks: how soon can we divorce, and what do I have to prove? Another couple, married for years, discovers that one spouse was already married. Is that marriage even a marriage? The Hindu Marriage Act 1955 answers both, and it answers them by sorting marriages into valid, void and voidable, and by giving a list of grounds on which a valid one can be ended.

In two minutes

The Hindu Marriage Act 1955 sets five conditions for a valid marriage (s.5), treats breach of some as making the marriage void (s.11) or voidable (s.12), and provides restitution, judicial separation and divorce on stated grounds (ss.9, 10, 13, 13B).

The rest of this chapter

The full explanation, the cheat sheet, every previous-year question at every mark weight, the quiz and the answer skeletons are part of Family Law – II on LexBlox Semester. Sign in to unlock the subject, or read Module 1 of Legal Language and Writing free.