While hearing the first appeal, a bench of Justice Rajan Roy and Justice OP Shukla declared void the alleged marriage of a 39-year-old religious leader with an 18-year-old girl in an Arya Samaj temple on July 5, 2009. The court said that a certificate has no significance in a Hindu marriage without rituals.
Hindu Marriage Certificate New Law: The Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court in Uttar Pradesh has said that if a Hindu is married without Hindu customs, then the marriage certificate or the certificate issued by the Arya Samaj temple has no significance. With this remark, the court has declared the alleged marriage of a 39-year-old alleged religious leader with an 18-year-old girl by fraud as void. A bench of Justice Rajan Roy and Justice OP Shukla passed this order on the first appeal filed by the girl. In the appeal, the girl had challenged the decision of the Family Court Lucknow dated 29 August 2023.
The alleged marriage of the girl took place on 5 July 2009. She had filed a suit in the Family Court under Section 12 of the Hindu Marriage Act and demanded that the marriage be declared void. At the same time, the alleged religious leader had filed a suit under Section 9 and demanded restoration of marital rights. The Family Court, while hearing both the cases together, dismissed the girl’s suit, while the alleged religious leader’s suit was accepted.
Challenging the order of the Family Court, the girl argued that the respondent is a religious guru. The girl’s mother and aunt were his followers. On July 5, 2009, he called the girl and her mother and got some documents signed saying that he wanted to make them members of his religious institution. Then on August 3, 2009, he called them to the registrar’s office and got them to sign in the name of being witnesses in the sale deed. After a few days, the religious guru informed the girl’s father that he had married the girl in the Arya Samaj temple on July 5, 2009 and the registration had also been done on August 3, 2009. The girl said that all the documents were made fraudulently.
After hearing the arguments of both the parties, the High Court said that the burden of proving the marriage was on the defendant religious leader, but he could not prove that the marriage was done according to Hindu customs under Section 7 of the Hindu Marriage Act. Therefore, the marriage cannot be considered to have been solemnized under Section 7. Saying this, the High Court declared the alleged marriage of both of them void.
