DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE

Section 12 of the Hindu Marriage Act provides for a decree of nullity of marriage — a petition must be filed within one year of marriage on any of the following grounds:

(a) The marriage has not been consummated owing to the impotence of the respondent. A party is impotent if his or her mental or physical condition makes consummation of marriage practically impossible.

(b) The marriage is in contravention of clause (ii) of section 5, i.e., at the time of marriage, any party was incapable of giving valid consent due to unsoundness of mind, or if capable of consent, was suffering from mental disorder of such kind or extent as to be unfit for marriage and procreation of children; or the other party has been subject to recurrent attacks of insanity.

(c) The consent of the petitioner, or the guardian (under section 5 as it stood before the Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Act, 1978), was obtained by force or fraud as to the nature of the ceremony or any material fact or circumstance concerning the respondent.

(d) The respondent was, at the time of the marriage, pregnant by some person other than the petitioner.

No petition for annulment on the ground of force or fraud shall be entertained if presented more than one year after the force ceased to operate or the fraud was discovered. Therefore, where consent in marriage was obtained by fraud, a petition for annulment must be filed within one year from the discovery of such fraud.

Additionally, no petition shall lie before the court if the petitioner continued to live with the respondent as husband or wife after the force ceased or the fraud was discovered.

In case of a petition for annulment on the ground that the other party was pregnant by another person, the court must be satisfied that the petitioner was unaware of this fact at the time of marriage. This petition must be filed within one year from the date of marriage, and there must have been no marital intercourse after discovery of this fact.