Annulment of Marriage Laws in India,Annulment or Nullity of Marriage,deference between annulment and divorce,annulment of marriage under Hindu Marriage Act 1955.

1. What Is Annulment Of Marriage
There are two ways to legally end a marriage – annulment and divorce. Anannulment is a legal
procedure which cancels a marriage between a man and a woman. Annulling a marriage is as
though it is completely erased – legally, it declares that the marriage never technically existed and
was never valid.
In strict Legal terminology, annulment refers only to making a voidable marriage null;if the marriage
is void ab initio, then it is automatically null, although a legal declaration of nullity is required to
establish this.
Annulment is a legal procedure for declaring a marriage null and void. With the exception of bigamy
and not meeting the minimum age requirement for marriage, it is rarely granted. A marriage can be
declared null and void if certain legal requirements were not met at the time of the marriage. If these
legal requirements were not met then the marriage is considered to have never existed in the eyes of
the law. This process is called annulment. It is very different from divorce in that while a divorce
dissolves a marriage that has existed, a marriage that is annulled never existed at all. Thus unlike
divorce, it is retroactive: an annulled marriage is considered never to have existed.
Section 12 of Hindu marriage Act,1955
Voidable Marriages :-
(1) Any marriage solemnized, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, shall be
voidable and may be annulled by a decree of nullity on any of the following grounds, namely:-
a.That the respondent was impotent at the time of the marriage and continued to be so until the
institution of the proceedings; or
b.That the marriage is in contravention of the condition specified in clause (ii) of section 5; or
c.That the consent of the petitioner, or where the consent of the guardian in marriage of the petitioner
is required under section 5, the consent of such guardian was obtained by force or fraud; or
d.That the respondent was at the time of the marriage pregnant by some person other than the
petitioner.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), no petition for annulling a marriage-
a.on the ground specified in clause (c) of sub-section (1) shall be entertained if-
(i) the petition is presented more than one year after for force had ceased to operate or, as the case
may be, the fraud had been discovered; or

2. (ii) the petitioner has, with his or her full consent, lived with the other party to the marriage as
husband or wife after the force had ceased to operate or, as the case may be, the fraud had been
discovered;
b.on the ground specified in clause (d) of sub-section
(1) shall be entertained unless the court is satisfied- (i) that the petitioner was at the time of the
marriage ignorant of the facts alleged;
(ii) that proceedings have been instituted in the case of a marriage solemnized before the
commencement of this Act within one year of such commencement and in the case of marriages
solemnized after such commencement within one year from the date of the marriage; and
(iii) that marital intercourse with the consent of the petitioner has not taken place since the discovery
by the petitioner of the existence of the grounds for a decree.
What is the difference between an annulment and a divorce?
An annulment of marriage is a legal decree that a marriage is null and void.Annulments are granted
when a court makes a finding a marriage is invalid. While a divorce ends a legally valid marriage,
an annulment treats the marriage as if it never existed.
Marriage is necessarily the basis of social organization and the foundation of important legal rights
and obligations. In Hindu Law, Marriage is treated as a Samaskara or a Sacrament. Divorce, however
is a thorny question and Annulment is a very unusual remedy. In our modern world, an Annulment
tends to be more a creature of religion than of law. Annulments are rarely granted and when they are,
very specific circumstances must exist.
What Is Annulment Of Marriage
In strict Legal terminology, annulment refers only to making a voidable marriage null;if the marriage
is void ab initio, then it is automatically null, although a legal declaration of nullity is required to
establish this.
Annulment is a legal procedure for declaring a marriage null and void. With the exception of bigamy
and not meeting the minimum age requirement for marriage, it is rarely granted. A marriage can be
declared null and void if certain legal requirements were not met at the time of the marriage. If these
legal requirements were not met then the marriage is considered to have never existed in the eyes of
the law. This process is called annulment. It is very different from divorce in that while a divorce

3. dissolves a marriage that has existed, a marriage that is annulled never existed at all. Thus unlike
divorce, it is retroactive: an annulled marriage is considered never to have existed.
Grounds For Annulment
The grounds for a marriage annulment may vary according to the different legal jurisdictions, but are
generally limited to fraud, bigamy, blood relationship and mental incompetence including the
following:
1.Either spouse was already married to someone else at the time of the marriage in question;
2.Either spouse was too young to be married, or too young without required court or parental
consent. (In some cases, such a marriage is still valid if it continues well beyond the younger
spouse’s reaching marriageable age);
3.Either spouse was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the marriage;
4.Either spouse was mentally incompetent at the time of the marriage;
5.If the consent to the marriage was based on fraud or force;
6.Either spouse was physically incapable to be married (typically, chronically unable to have sexual
intercourse) at the time of the marriage;
7.The marriage is prohibited by law due to the relationship between the parties. This is the
“prohibited degree of consanguinity”, or blood relationship between the parties. The most common
legal relationship is 2nd cousins; the legality of such relationship between 1st cousins varies around
the world.
8.Prisoners sentenced to a term of life imprisonment may not marry.
9.Concealment (e.g. one of the parties concealed a drug addiction, prior criminal record or having a
sexually transmitted disease).