The Allahabad High Court ruled a man is not liable to pay maintenance to a woman if she was not legally divorced from her first husband when she began living with him. The court dismissed the woman's maintenance claim but upheld maintenance for their daughter, citing the father's duty to support his children.
The Gujarat High Court ruled that a Hindu marriage is invalid if essential religious rites like Saptapadi were not performed, even with a registered certificate. Registration only proves a valid marriage, it cannot create one.
The Gujarat High Court ruled that Hindu marriages require sacred rituals like 'saptapadi' to be valid, not just registration. A UK-based techie's plea to nullify his marriage was upheld after the woman admitted no ceremonies took place.
India's Supreme Court ruled that prolonged separation without genuine reconciliation efforts constitutes mental cruelty and is a valid ground for divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act. The court dissolved a marriage of over 15 years of separation.
In India, a wife's remarriage generally ends her right to maintenance from her former husband. This principle applies across various laws, including the secular Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and personal laws like the Hindu Marriage Act. However, the husband must obtain a court order to cancel maintenance; it does not stop automatically. Child maintenance obligations remain unaffected by the wife's remarriage.
The dispute arose from matrimonial proceedings between two highly qualified medical professionals. The wife, a practicing gynaecologist with an M.D. degree, challenged a trial court order which had partly rejected her application for maintenance under Sections 24 and 26 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
