Gujarat HC: Hindu marriage registration alone insufficient without essential rites like saptapadi

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court has held that registration alone cannot validate a Hindu marriage if essential customary rites and ceremonies, notably saptapadi, have not been performed.

In a June 23 order, a division bench of Justices Ilesh Vora and R.T. Vachhani stayed a family court judgment of last November while hearing an appeal by a UK-based man who challenged a family court decision refusing to declare an alleged marriage void. The appellant, Kaushal Sonar, told the court he never underwent any Hindu rites with the woman who later presented a marriage certificate to his parents, and alleged his signature on the documents was obtained fraudulently and without consent.

The High Court found fault with the family court for dismissing Sonar’s petition despite the woman’s admission that no marriage ceremonies had been performed and that the parties never lived as husband and wife. Citing Section 7 of the Hindu Marriage Act, the bench said a Hindu marriage must be solemnised according to customary rites and ceremonies — such as saptapadi, the seven steps taken by the couple before the sacred fire — for it to attain spiritual, social and legal status.

The court emphasised marriage’s role under Hindu law as a sacrament (samskara) that creates a lifelong, equal and dignified union. It noted that customary ceremonies, despite regional variations, are intended to purify and transform individuals and urged young people to appreciate the institution’s solemn nature before entering marriage.

The ruling clarifies that statutory registration cannot substitute for the essential customary rites required to make a Hindu marriage complete and binding.