Annulment of marriage

If the said conditions laid down under Section 5 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 are not fulfilled then the marriage may be declared as void or voidable as the case may be. However Section 11 and Section 12 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 stipulates the contraventions grounds, when a marriage is declared as Void or Voidable.

The grounds for a marriage annulment are varied to the different jurisdictions but are limited to:

1. Fraud.
2. Bigamy.
3. Blood relationship.
4. Mental incompetence.
5. Forced consent.
6. Inability to consummate marriage.
7. Underage Marriage.
8. Life imprisonment of either spouse.

1. The clear distinction between annulment and divorce is that the annulment refers to the marriage which never existed at all whereas the divorce dissolves a marriage considered to be legal.
2. Divorce aims to break the bond but annulment questions the validity of the marriage.
3. After the annulment of marriage, there are no duties or obligations which are aroused but after the divorce, a situation to pay alimony may arise as it depends on the case.
4. After annulment the status of the parties is called as single, whereas after divorce it is referred to as divorcees.

Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 speaks of Interim Maintenance, therefore, when an annulment proceeding is initiated against the wife by the husband under Section 12 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, the woman is still considered as a wife of the man because the marriage has not yet been annulled.

Since, the marriage is subsisting till the finality of the case, the woman can seek Interim maintenance under Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.