MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has come to the rescue of a Pune resident who claimed that he was forcibly married to his third wife.
A division bench of Justice Vijaya Kapse Tahilramani and Justice A R Joshi declared that the 2009 marriage of Dilip Patil to Seema Patil (names changed) was "null and void" as his second wife was alive at the time of the marriage.
The court cited provisions of the Hindu Marriage Act, which says that the marriage was "void if any of the parties has a spouse living at the time of the marriage."When Dilip got married to Seema on July 16, 2009, his earlier marriage with Sheetal was still in existence. Thus he had a spouse living on (the day of his third marriage). Hence, their marriage is clearly a void marriage," observed the judges.
Dilip married Sheetal in 2003 after his first wife died in 2000. He has a son from each of his two marriages.
According to Dilip, he and Sheetal lived together for a couple of years in Belapur and then started living separately after he took up a job in Pune.
Seema had approached him for a job at the hotel he was working in Pune. Dilip claimed that he was threatened and asked to shell out Rs 3 lakh or face a charge of rape. A police complaint too was lodged. He was forced to marry Seema in 2009. A year later he moved the family court seeking divorce.
Seema claimed that she had met Dilip in response to an advertisement he had allegedly placed claiming that he was a divorcee and needed someone to look after his child. They grew close and started living together.
When Dilip went back on his promise to marry her, she filed a police complaint, Seema said, and later withdrew it when he agreed to wed. She further claimed that it was only two months after the marriage that she came to know that Dilip was married to Sheetal.
The HC said that no advertisement was submitted to prove her claims. The HC said that the law was equivocal that under the Hindu Marriage Act one of the conditions was that the couple who are married should not have a spouse living at the time of the marriage.
Seema's lawyers claimed that Dilip had approached the court late as the law states that a complaint of forcible or fraudulent marriage has to be made within one year.
The HC, however, said that the threats to him had continued and further since the marriage had already been declared as void, there was no need to decide on the second issue of force.
When Dilip got married to Seema on July 16, 2009, his earlier marriage with Sheetal was still in existence. Thus he had a spouse living on (the day of his third marriage). Hence, their marriage is clearly a void marriage
A division bench of Justice Vijaya Kapse Tahilramani and Justice A R Joshi declared that the 2009 marriage of Dilip Patil to Seema Patil (names changed) was "null and void" as his second wife was alive at the time of the marriage.
The court cited provisions of the Hindu Marriage Act, which says that the marriage was "void if any of the parties has a spouse living at the time of the marriage."When Dilip got married to Seema on July 16, 2009, his earlier marriage with Sheetal was still in existence. Thus he had a spouse living on (the day of his third marriage). Hence, their marriage is clearly a void marriage," observed the judges.
Dilip married Sheetal in 2003 after his first wife died in 2000. He has a son from each of his two marriages.
According to Dilip, he and Sheetal lived together for a couple of years in Belapur and then started living separately after he took up a job in Pune.
Seema had approached him for a job at the hotel he was working in Pune. Dilip claimed that he was threatened and asked to shell out Rs 3 lakh or face a charge of rape. A police complaint too was lodged. He was forced to marry Seema in 2009. A year later he moved the family court seeking divorce.
Seema claimed that she had met Dilip in response to an advertisement he had allegedly placed claiming that he was a divorcee and needed someone to look after his child. They grew close and started living together.
When Dilip went back on his promise to marry her, she filed a police complaint, Seema said, and later withdrew it when he agreed to wed. She further claimed that it was only two months after the marriage that she came to know that Dilip was married to Sheetal.
The HC said that no advertisement was submitted to prove her claims. The HC said that the law was equivocal that under the Hindu Marriage Act one of the conditions was that the couple who are married should not have a spouse living at the time of the marriage.
Seema's lawyers claimed that Dilip had approached the court late as the law states that a complaint of forcible or fraudulent marriage has to be made within one year.
The HC, however, said that the threats to him had continued and further since the marriage had already been declared as void, there was no need to decide on the second issue of force.
When Dilip got married to Seema on July 16, 2009, his earlier marriage with Sheetal was still in existence. Thus he had a spouse living on (the day of his third marriage). Hence, their marriage is clearly a void marriage
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