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The Nyaaya Guide on Procedures for Adoption helps you understand everything you need to know about adoption in India with simple language and easy to understand illustrations. This guide tells you about the steps involved in the procedures for Adoption by Resident Indians (Non-Religious Law), Adoption of a Child from a Foreign Country by Indian citizens (Non-Religious Law), Adoption by OCI or Non-Resident Indian (NRI) or a Foreigner Living Abroad (Non-Religious Law), Procedure for Adoption by Step-Parent (Non-Religious Law), Procedure for Adoption by Relative (Non-Religious law) and the Procedure for Hindu Adoption.
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If your spouse is diagnosed with a Sexually Transmitted Disease that prevents you from engaging in sexual intercourse, you can ask for the marriage to be declared as invalid.
Under Muslim law, if a girl has attained puberty (15 years) then she can get married. So, a girl of 16 years old who has attained puberty can get married.(( Shoukat Hussian and another v. State of Punjab and others [CRWP No.733 of 2021 (O&M)].))
Under Muslim law, only a Muslim man can marry a Christian woman or a woman from any other religion. This is not the case for a Muslim woman, as she cannot marry a Christian Man or a man from any other religion. If she does, then she will not be considered a Muslim anymore.(( Mulla, D. F., Sir. (n.d.). Principles of Mahomedan Law (20th ed.) p.338.))
However, now two people who are from different religions can marry and register under the Special Marriage Act, 1954. Read more on our explainer on Special Marriage.
A marriage between a bride and groom who is a non-Muslim is considered unlawful and does not to have any legal effect under Muslim personal law (it is ‘void’).(( Mulla, D. F., Sir. (n.d.). Principles of Mahomedan Law (20th ed.) p.338.))
However, two people who are from different religions can marry and register under the Special Marriage Act, 1954. Read more on our explainer on Special Marriage.
Any person may object to a marriage if it goes against any of the requirements given in Section 4 of the Act. The objection must be made within 30 days of publication of the notice of the intended marriage. When an objection is made, the Marriage Officer will not allow the marriage to be performed until they address the objection. They will then make a decision within 30 days of the objection whether to uphold it or not. If they uphold the objection they will not perform the marriage.
Yes. Inter-religious marriages are permitted under the Special Marriage Act. Even if the marrying parties belong to different religions, they can get married under this Act without having to convert or change their religion. The only requirement is the valid consent of the parties. You must be at least 21 years old (if male) or 18 years old (if female).
When a marriage is performed under this Act, the parties getting married shall give a notice in writing to the Marriage Officer of the district in which at least one of the parties has resided for at least thirty days immediately before the date on which the notice is given.
A marriage that has been registered under the Act by a marriage officer will be entered in the Marriage Certificate Book and will be deemed to be a legitimate marriage under the Act. All the children born after the date of the ceremony will also be considered to be legitimate children.
The marriage certificate given to you by the Marriage Officer is the proof of validity of an inter-religious marriage.
If you are being harassed in your marriage, then you can file for divorce on the grounds of cruelty. If you have been married under Hindu law then your divorce will also be governed by the same law. You can divorce your spouse only based on the reasons specified in the law. It is harder to seek a divorce simply only on the grounds that you no longer wish to remain married without it matching any reasons recognized by the law. However, it is possible to get a divorce if you and your spouse mutually consent to it. Divorce can take place if the husband or wife brings a petition to the Court based on the recognized reasons.
Though prenuptial agreements are not legally validated under religious Hindu marriage law, a prenuptial agreement can be legally enforceable as per contract law in India. A contractual prenuptial agreement should follow the legal rules of contracts given under the Indian Contract Act , 1872. To be valid, the contract should not be contrary to law or public policy, so if the marriage is governed by the Hindu Marriage Act, the contract cannot have provisions that violate that law.
The Saptapadi ceremony establishes the commitment the couple makes to each other during the Hindu wedding ceremony. Saptapadi quite literally translates from Sanskrit to ‘seven steps’. The couple takes seven full circles, walking clockwise around the ceremonial fire, representing the seven principles and promises they make to each other.
Your marriage is not legally ‘solemnized’ if you do not follow the essential ceremonies followed by either your or your spouse’s communities. There are different customary requirements in different parts of the country – generally, in north India, saptapadi and invocation before the sacred fire are considered essential ceremonies. However, these are not considered essential ceremonies in states like Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry – an exchange of garlands or rings and tying a thali is considered enough.
Saptapadi is therefore not necessary for all marriages. However, where saptapadi is observed as a ceremony, when last step taken around the fire the marriage will be considered complete.
As you know, there are certain conditions for a valid Hindu marriage. When these legal requirements are not met, your marriage suffers from certain legal defects/problems. It has no legal validity and you can annul the marriage in a Court. There are two categories of legal defects in a marriage – ‘void’ and ‘voidable.’ It’s simple – a void marriage is automatically considered an invalid marriage from the very beginning and there is no need to annul it. On the other hand, a voidable marriage is legal until a Court says it is not. Once you have fulfilled conditions then your marriage can go back to being valid.
For example, marriages are void when the conditions of not having a spouse before getting married, you and spouse not falling within the category of “prohibited relationship” or “sapindas” are not followed. On the other hand, a marriage is voidable when your spouse is impotent.
The law allows for situations where one spouse is forced to withdraw from the company of the other. For instance, in a situation where your spouse is treating you with cruelty – either mentally or physically – it would be considered reasonable for you to leave them. Therefore, while considering your spouse’s petition for divorce will be decided upon after taking into consideration your reasons for leaving his company.
Yes, the law allows women to file for divorce against their husbands in the following instances:
- When the husband remarries before getting a divorce or in the lifetime of the first wife.
- Where after getting married, husband has been held guilty of rape, sodomy or bestiality.
- When husband and wife have been living apart for one year after the Court has instructed the husband to pay maintenance.
- When the woman is married off before she turns 15 years and she wants to end the marriage.
In order to grant a divorce, one of the first things that the Court checks is if they were in a marriage that was legally valid i.e. a subsisting marriage. The Court can only grant a divorce if the marriage legally existed. So, it checks if your marriage existed as per the law to go forward with divorce proceedings.
For example, Bhavana and Amit are in a live-in relationship. Bhavana cannot file a divorce against Amit as they are not in a “subsisting marriage” since they have not gone through the marital ceremonies or registered their marriage under the law.
A Marital relationship includes:
- Feelings of love and liking you have for your spouse
- Companionship and support you get from your spouse.
- Living in the same house as your spouse (Not mandatory)
- Sexual relations with your spouse.
- Having children with your spouse and their upbringing.
- Domestic responsibilities which you would be sharing with your spouse, such as finances of the house etc.
You have to file your case in the Family Court in your District. However, consult your lawyer before filing the case.
There may be situations where a particular District does not have a Family court. In these situations, the District Judge or a Civil Judge appointed by the State Government will perform the same functions as a Family Court judge.
Recently, many Courts have been using videoconferencing for matrimonial and divorce cases because it is hard for the parties to travel to another city just for the case. So, Courts have said that only after the husband and wife have discussed problems such as property, custody etc. and it has failed, that the case can proceed by the use of video conferencing. Further, both spouses have to consent to the use of video conferencing.
Under the law, the divorce proceedings in Court may be held ‘in camera’, i.e, cases that are those carried out in private, in the absence of the public and the press. The Family Court may direct the parties to use in camera proceedings or one of the parties can make a request for this, which will be considered by the Family Court.
For example, Seema has filed a case against Deb for divorce. During the case, because of the amount of sexual abuse faced by the wife, Seema, she may request the Court to conduct in-camera proceedings keeping in mind the sensitive nature of her case.
If your husband has converted to Islam, you can apply for divorce stating this reason. And since the marriage was performed as per Hindu law, the divorce will also be governed by Hindu law, even if your husband is not a Hindu anymore.
No, you cannot give your spouse’s leprosy as a reason for divorce. It used to exist as a reason, but the Supreme Court struck it down. There is even a bill pending in Parliament to amend all personal laws for removing leprosy as a reason for divorce.
The details of the reconciliation methods, which include mediation, conciliation and discussions with family counsellors, are not supposed to be part of the records of the Court or disclosed to any third party. This is done to respect and maintain the privacy of the husband and wife. So, neither the Court nor the lawyers will know what you said during the mediation.
The difference between the two reconciliation methods is that, in the process of mediation, the mediator assists the parties to arrive at a solution while in conciliation, the conciliator himself proposes solutions to solve the problems of the spouses during the divorce. For example, if you and your spouse go to a mediator, he will assist you in deciding about the future of your marital life while a conciliator will give you options on how to decide your future.
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