Under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, if any person with sufficient resources refuses to maintain or ignores parents who are unable to maintain themselves, then a Magistrate of the First Class can order them to give a monthly allowance for maintenance.
You can consult a lawyer about the process to file a complaint and obtain such an order.
As per the law, a person licensed to grant Marriage certificates can only certify marriage between two Indian Christians,(( Section 60, Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872.)) neither of them coming from the Roman Catholic faith.(( Section 65, Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872.)) Under these provisions, any two Indian Christians can marry, without preliminary notices, if they fulfil the following conditions:
Upon receiving an application in person from any one of the parties, the licensed person will see whether the above criteria have been met, and shall issue a certificate for the marriage. The fee for obtaining such a certificate is four annas, that is, 25 paise. This certificate will act as conclusive proof for the validity of the marriage performed.(( Section 61, Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872.))
Certain relationships are prohibited under the law. This means that a person cannot marry certain kinds of relatives:(( Mulla, D. F., Sir. (n.d.). Principles of Mahomedan Law (20th ed.) p.332.))
Blood Relations
You cannot marry your mother, grandmother, daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, great-niece, aunts, or great-aunts. You also cannot marry someone who is also related to you through such relatives. For example, you cannot marry your great granddaughter.
Relatives through Marriage
You cannot marry your wife’s mother/grandmother, wife’s daughter/granddaughter, son’s wife in the case of a second, third or fourth marriage.
Relatives through Fosterage
All relations prohibited through blood relations and marriages apply to foster relationships as well. Example, a man cannot marry his foster mother’s daughter.
Cruel Behavior is a ground of divorce under Hindu Marriage Law. Cruelty is behavior or conduct which causes harassment to you. Cruelty may be in two forms:
Physical
Mental
The act of cruelty is gender-neutral, meaning, a husband can file the case against the wife for cruelty and vice-versa.
Under Muslim law, there are provisions for divorce due to missing husband.
You can file for divorce if you do not know the whereabouts of your husband for a period of 4 years.
In certain cases under the child marriage law, the marriage would be absolutely illegal and will be considered to have not occurred in the first place. Such instances are as under:
Trigger Warning: The following content contains information which some readers may find disturbing.
The law states that people with mental illnesses usually do not have the capacity to enter into valid legal marriages. Mental illness means a substantial disorder of thinking, mood, perception, orientation or memory that severely impairs judgement, behavior, capacity to recognize reality or to meet the ordinary demands of life, and mental conditions associated with the abuse of alcohol and drugs.(( Section 2(s), Mental Healthcare Act, 2017.))
A person planning on getting married should be able to give valid consent. If you are not able to give consent because of:
While the provision of the law may not cover all kinds of mental illnesses, there are no proper guidelines on what kind of illnesses or the degrees of illness make you unsuitable for marriage.
The types of adoption given below are only applicable to you if you decide to follow the non-religious law on adoption.(( Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.)) If you follow the Hindu adoption laws,(( Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956.)) there are no specific types of adoptions.
These are the following categories of adoption procedures:
The duty to maintain parents exists even after the death of your child or legal heir. Upon an application, the court may order that a portion of the child or legal heir’s wealth and assets be given to you, if you are old and infirm. The amount of maintenance in such cases will be calculated as per the rules of inheritance applicable after the death of your child or legal heir. The amount due to you will be decided by a court after considering a number of factors such as:
A marriage performed by a Marriage Registrar is divided into 4 stages:
If a couple wishes to be married by a Marriage Registrar, one of them must give a notice in person to the Registrar of the district in which the couple lives. In case they live in different districts, the notice shall be given to the Registrars of both the districts. The notice shall state their intention to be married, in the prescribed format, and should mention the following:
Given below is a sample notice:
The notice will be pasted by the Registrar at a conspicuous place in the office,(( Section 39, Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872.)) and will be entered in the Marriage Notice Book kept in the office.1
After at least four days of receiving the notice by the Registrar,(( Section 41, Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872.)) one of the parties intending marriage must make an oath to the Registrar, stating that there are no legal problems in performing the marriage, and that they live within the District of the Registrar’s office.(( Section 42, Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872.)) In case one of the parties is a minor, one of the parties must also take an oath stating that the necessary steps have been taken.(( Section 42, Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872.)) To know more about the special procedures of marriage of a minor, read our explainer on Marriages of Minors under Christian Law.
After such a declaration has been made, the Registrar will issue a certificate to the parties, in the prescribed format, and the parties can be married by any Registrar or in the Registrar’s presence, within two months of receiving the certificate.(( Sections 41, 50-52, Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872.)) Given below is a sample of a certificate of receipt of notice.
The certificates obtained must be produced in front of the Registrar at the time of marriage.(( Section 51, Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872.)) The marriage will be conducted either by the Registrar themselves, or any other person authorized to do the same. The marriage ceremony must be attended by two witnesses, apart from the Registrar.(( Section 51, Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872.)) In case two months have passed from receipt of the certificate, the entire process must restart with a fresh notice.(( Section 52, Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872.))
After the performance of the marriage, the details of the marriage shall be entered in a register by the Registrar, in the prescribed format.(( Sections 53 & 54, Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872.)) The entry will be signed by the Registrar, the person who performed the marriage (if marriage was performed by someone other than the Registrar), parties to the marriage, and two witnesses who had attended the ceremony.(( Section 54, Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872.))
A certified copy of an entry in the marriage register, signed by the person under whose custody the register is kept, will act as evidence that the persons mentioned in the entry have been married according to the law.(( Section 80, Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872.)) Upon payment of the prescribed fees to the Marriage Registrar, one can always inspect a marriage register which is within the custody of the said Registrar.(( Section 79, Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872.))
The marriage has to take place in the presence of:
These witnesses must be Muslims, adults and of sound mind. The Sunni School of Muslim law specifically requires two witnesses to present while the Shia School of Law does not require the presence of a witness in any matter regarding marriage.(( Mulla, D. F., Sir. (n.d.). Principles of Mahomedan Law (20th ed.) p.332.))
You can file for a divorce if your spouse has cheated on you, i.e. when they have had voluntary sexual intercourse with another person. This is also referred to as adultery.
To get a divorce, you will have to prove that voluntary sexual intercourse took place between your spouse and another person.
Till recently, cheating was a crime. It is no longer a crime. However, you can still file for divorce on the grounds that your spouse has cheated on you.
Under Muslim law, there are provisions for divorce due to non-payment of maintenance by the husband.
If your husband has failed to provide maintenance to you for a period of 2 years, then you can go to Court to ask for a divorce.
Irrespective of whether the child marriage has been cancelled or not, as per the law, a child born out of such a marriage would be considered a legitimate child under the law.
Custody of Children
As for the custody of such children, the district court will decide who would receive custody of the children only while hearing the petition for cancelling the marriage.
The court will take the following into account while granting custody:
If the spouses are within the degrees of prohibited relationship, then their marriage will not be a valid marriage. The following are the kinds of prohibited marriages:
In some cases, despite a relationship being prohibited by law, a person’s custom might still permit a marriage with another person. In this case, they can get married because their custom allows them to do so
The following are the effects of adoption, regardless of which law you have adopted under:(( Section 63, Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015; Sections 12, 13 and 15, Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956.))
Additionally, under the Hindu law on adoption,(( Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956.)) from the date on which the adoption order of a child becomes effective:(( Sections 12, 13 and 15, Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956.))
Cancelling a Valid Adoption: A valid adoption cannot be cancelled by the adoptive parent or any other person. Once adopted, a child cannot reject the adoption and return to the family of birth.
You can make an application to the court to order your children or relatives to pay you temporary maintenance (on a monthly basis). The court has to decide whether you can get temporary maintenance within 90 days of informing your children or relatives of your application. In special circumstances, they can delay this for some more time (i.e. 30 days).
This is not the final maintenance you can expect to get. The court may decide not to give you maintenance at all, or may decide to increase or decrease the amount of maintenance in the final order.
A marriage performed by a licensed Minister of Religion is divided into 4 stages:
In case two persons wish to be married by a licensed Minister of Religion, one of them must give a notice in person to the Minister, stating their intention to be married. The notice should mention the following:
Given below is a sample notice:
The Minister will then paste the notice at a conspicuous or public place in the church.2 If the marriage is taking place at a private dwelling, the notice will be forwarded to the Marriage Registrar of that district, and the notice will be pasted in a conspicuous place of the Registrar’s office.(( Section 14, Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872.)) In situations where the Minister refuses to perform a marriage, the notice will be either forwarded to another Minister, or returned to the persons who wish to get married.(( Section 15, Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872.))
After at least four days of receiving the notice,(( Section 17, Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872.)) one of the persons intending marriage must make a declaration to the Minister, stating that no legal problems exist in the marriage. In case one of the parties is a minor, they need to state that the necessary steps have been taken.(( Section 18, Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872.)) To know more about the special procedures of marriage of a minor, read our explainer on Marriages of Minors under Christian Law.
After such a declaration has been made, the Minister will issue a certificate and the Minister must conduct the marriage within two months of the couple getting the certificate.(( Section 17, 24-26, Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872.)) Two witnesses must attend the marriage, apart from the Minister.(( Section 25, Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872.)) In case two months have passed from receipt of the certificate, the entire process must restart with a fresh notice.(( Section 26, Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872.))
After the marriage is performed, the details of the marriage shall be entered in a register by the Minister.(( Part IV, Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872. )) The entry will be signed by the Minister, parties to the marriage, and two witnesses who had attended the ceremony.(( Section 33, Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872.))
A certified copy of an entry in the marriage register, signed by the person under whose custody the register is kept, will be legal evidence that the persons mentioned in the entry have been married according to the law.(( Section 80, Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872.))
The validity of a marriage can be checked through the nikahnama, which is considered integral to a religiously-valid Islamic marriage. The Qazi will maintain the nikahnama. If there is no nikahnama then the Qazi himself can be the witness.(( Mulla, D. F., Sir. (n.d.). Principles of Mahomedan Law (20th ed.) p.332.))
The nikah can also be done though phone or the internet.(( Mulla, D. F., Sir. (n.d.). Principles of Mahomedan Law (20th ed.) p.333.)) It will be valid in cases where the parties make a proposal and acceptance before their witnesses and an advocate who is present. The witnesses and the parties must be familiar with the person appointed as the advocate and should know their name, father’s name and residential address which is also mentioned at the time of the proposal and the acceptance.
If your spouse has left you then you can file for a divorce. This is known as desertion.
Desertion can happen if your spouse has left you with immediate effect with an intention to never come back to stay with you as your spouse, without you agreeing to this arrangement.
This will only be understood by the Courts on a case by case basis. It is important to note that if your spouse has temporarily or in the heat of the moment left you, without actually intending to abandon you, this will not amount to desertion.
For example, if you had a fight with your husband and he leaves the house in anger then it does not mean that he has deserted you.
However, it is important that you have not created such a circumstance that any reasonable person would find so difficult to bear with that would have had to desert you. If you have created such a circumstance then the courts may not consider your case for desertion.
Apart from a single act of leaving you, desertion can happen over a period of time through a course of conduct or through repeated behavioural patterns.
If your spouse has slowly withdrawn from you and your social circles (for example: stopped all interaction with you and your family though he/she may live with you) and has stopped behaving as any spouse does in a marriage (for example: refusing to financially contribute to a household since and contribute in any other way to the household) it can be understood as desertion. In such a case the spouse doesn’t have to physically leave you. Depending on the circumstances of each case, the Court can consider the desertion to begin when such behaviour started.
The Court will look at all the facts and circumstances to understand each specific case to decide on granting a divorce.
In order to claim desertion as a reason for divorce:
For example, Karan left his wife, Vijji, in January 2016, but changed his mind and came back to be with his wife in July 2017. Vijji cannot go to Court to file for a divorce for this reason as the two year period was not continuous.
Under Muslim law, there are provisions for divorce due to incarceration of husband. If your husband has been convicted of a crime and is sent to jail for 7 years or more, then you can go to Court to file for a divorce.
Such decree for divorce may be granted only if the husband’s sentence has become final.
The law offers certain protections to girls who have been married below the age of 18 years and have filed for cancelling their marriage.
Payment of Maintenance
The district court can direct the husband, or in cases of minors, his parents or guardians, to pay some money as maintenance to the girl.
The Court while deciding the amount of maintenance, will keep in mind the lifestyle of the girl and the income of the person paying. This payment has to be given till the girl remarries.
Arrangements for Residence
The court can even order suitable arrangements for residence to be made for the girl until she remarries.
Void marriages are invalid from the beginning. These do not require annulment. Under the Hindu Marriage Act, Section 11 states certain situations where the marriage is void. The following are the situations:
Follow the steps given below to adopt a child from a foreign country as an Indian citizen.(( Regulation 22, Adoption Regulations, 2017.))
Step 1: Necessary formalities for adoption of a child from a foreign country will be completed in that country, as per their law.
Step 2: The relevant authority, depending on the laws of the country, shall issue approval of adoption, only on receiving the required documents (please ask the authority for more details on the same), and the following reports:
Step 3: A foreign child adopted by Indian citizens and having a foreign passport, will need an Indian visa to come to India. For obtaining this visa, you can apply for it to the Indian Mission in that country.
Step 4: The immigration clearance for the child adopted shall be obtained from the Central Government in the Foreigners’ Division, Ministry of Home Affairs, through the Indian Diplomatic Mission to that country.
You can file an application in a Maintenance Tribunal under the Maintenance And Welfare Of Parents And Senior Citizens Act, 2007. You can file with the Tribunal in the area where:
Once you file an application with the Tribunal, you cannot file an application for maintenance under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (which also gives you the same right).
After you have filed an application (the format will vary from state to state), the court will first notify your children and tell them that you have filed such an application. Then, the court can decide to refer the case to a Conciliation Officer, who will try to get the parties to agree to a friendly settlement. If the court does not refer the case, it will listen to both the parties.
The court will conduct an inquiry to figure out how much maintenance you need to be paid. An inquiry is not a full-fledged legal proceeding. Even though the law does not allow for representation by lawyers in these courts, there are high court judgments which have held that this right of lawyers cannot be restricted. This court is slightly informal in nature but it has the powers of a civil court and can order attendance of witnesses, take evidence on oath, etc.
If the court finds that your children or relatives are neglecting to take care of you, it can pass an order directing them to pay a monthly maintenance. The court can also order that interest (between 5% and 8%) be paid on the maintenance amount from the date of the application. If your children or parents are not paying the maintenance even after the court order, you can go to any similar court (maintenance tribunal) and ask for help in enforcing the order.
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