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Family Law I (Hindu Law)
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 5
2018 Dec Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 5 Family Law I (Hindu Law) 2018 Dec Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Karnataka State Law University at the 2018 Dec examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2018 Dec examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2018 Dec examination, reproduced as Karnataka State Law University set them, in the order it set them. Long reading passages are shortened to their first and last lines and our summary; the original paper prints them in full. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.
Duration 3 hours · Total marks 100 · 13 questions answered
How to use this volume
Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.
Q1Explain the conditions of a valid marriage.[16]
Answer
For full marks, cover: the opening words of section 5 (both parties Hindus); the five conditions in section 5, (i) monogamy, (ii) mental capacity, (iii) age, (iv) prohibited relationship, (v) sapinda relationship; the ceremonies in section 7; the effect of breaking each condition (void, voidable, or neither but punishable) with a table; registration in section 8 is not a condition; the Karnataka amendment on child marriage; Bhaurao Lokhande, Sarla Mudgal, Lily Thomas, R. Lakshmi Narayan, Independent Thought and Seema explained; a conclusion.
Marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act 1955
Before 1955 a Hindu marriage was governed by the texts and by custom. The Hindu Marriage Act 1955 now lays down the conditions of a valid marriage. Section 4 gives the Act overriding effect over the old texts and customs on these matters.
Section 5 opens with the words "A marriage may be solemnized between any two Hindus". So the first requirement is that both parties must be Hindus, as section 2 defines that word. If one party is not a Hindu, the marriage cannot be made under this Act. It can be made under the Special Marriage Act 1954.
Section 5 then sets out five conditions. Section 7 adds the requirement of ceremonies.
Condition (i): monogamy
"Neither party has a spouse living at the time of the marriage." This condition ended polygamy among Hindus from 1955.
A marriage in breach of it is void under section 11. Section 17 also makes it the offence of bigamy. It applies the old sections 494 and 495 of the Indian Penal Code, which are now section 82 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023. The punishment is imprisonment up to seven years and fine, or up to ten years where the earlier marriage was concealed.
Sarla Mudgal v. Union of India, AIR 1995 SC 1531. Hindu husbands converted to Islam only to marry a second wife. They claimed that as Muslims they could have four wives. The Supreme Court held that the first Hindu marriage is not dissolved by conversion. It can be ended only by a decree of divorce under section 13. So the second marriage after conversion was void, and the husband was guilty of bigamy.
Lily Thomas v. Union of India, (2000) 6 SCC 224. The question came back to the Court in petitions by wives whose husbands had converted to marry again. The Court confirmed Sarla Mudgal. Conversion is only a ground for divorce or judicial separation. A second marriage while the first subsists is void and attracts the bigamy offence. These cases show that condition (i) cannot be avoided by a change of religion.
Condition (ii): mental capacity
At the time of the marriage, neither party:
- "is incapable of giving a valid consent to it in consequence of unsoundness of mind"; or
- though capable of consent, "has been suffering from mental disorder of such a kind or to such an extent as to be unfit for marriage and the procreation of children"; or
- "has been subject to recurrent attacks of insanity".
This clause was substituted in 1976. The word "epilepsy" was removed from it in 1999, so epilepsy is no longer a bar.
A marriage in breach of condition (ii) is voidable under section 12(1)(b). It stands until the other party obtains a decree of nullity.
R. Lakshmi Narayan v. Santhi, (2001) 4 SCC 688. The parties lived together for only about 25 days. The husband sought nullity, saying the wife had a mental disorder from childhood. The Supreme Court refused. A disorder makes a person unfit for marriage only if it is of such a kind or extent that a normal married life is impossible. The burden on the person seeking nullity is heavy. Here the husband had also known of her condition before the marriage.
Condition (iii): age
"The bridegroom has completed the age of twenty-one years and the bride the age of eighteen years at the time of the marriage."
Under the Hindu Marriage Act itself, breach of this condition does not make the marriage void or voidable. Section 11 does not mention clause (iii), and section 12 does not either. Instead, section 18(a) punishes the person who procures the marriage. The punishment is rigorous imprisonment up to two years, or fine up to one lakh rupees, or both.
The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 goes further. Under section 3 of that Act a child marriage is voidable at the option of the party who was a child. In Karnataka the State amended that Act by the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Karnataka Amendment) Act 2016. The new section 3(1A) says that every child marriage solemnized after that amendment came into force "shall be void abinitio". So in Karnataka the age condition now has a far stronger effect than the Hindu Marriage Act alone gives it.
Independent Thought v. Union of India, (2017) 10 SCC 800. The Penal Code exempted a husband from the offence of rape if his wife was over fifteen. The Supreme Court held that the exemption cannot apply where the wife is under eighteen. Sexual intercourse with a wife below eighteen is rape. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita now says so in section 63, Exception 2. The case shows how seriously the law now treats marriage below the legal age.
Conditions (iv) and (v): prohibited relationship and sapinda relationship
(iv) "The parties are not within the degrees of prohibited relationship, unless the custom or usage governing each of them permits of a marriage between the two."
(v) "The parties are not sapindas of each other, unless the custom or usage governing each of them permits of a marriage between the two."
Section 3(g) lists the degrees of prohibited relationship. Two persons are within them:
- if one is a lineal ascendant of the other;
- if one was the wife or husband of a lineal ascendant or descendant of the other;
- "if one was the wife of the brother or of the father's or mother's brother or of the grandfather's or grandmother's brother of the other"; or
- "if the two are brother and sister, uncle and niece, aunt and nephew, or children of brother and sister or of two brothers or of two sisters".
By the Explanation to section 3, relationship includes half blood, uterine blood, illegitimate blood relationship and relationship by adoption.
Section 3(f) defines sapinda relationship. It extends to the third generation in the line of ascent through the mother, and the fifth through the father. The person concerned is counted as the first generation.
Both conditions have one exception: a custom that governs each party and permits the marriage. Clause 4 covers a marriage between cousins and between uncle and niece. Yet in many communities of south India, a man may by custom marry his maternal uncle's daughter or his sister's daughter. Such a marriage is valid where the custom governing both parties is proved.
A marriage in breach of (iv) or (v) is void under section 11. Section 18(b) also punishes it with simple imprisonment up to one month, or fine up to one thousand rupees, or both.
Ceremonies: section 7
A marriage is not valid unless it is properly solemnized. Section 7(1) says a Hindu marriage "may be solemnized in accordance with the customary rites and ceremonies of either party thereto". Section 7(2) adds that where the rites include the saptapadi, the marriage becomes complete and binding when the seventh step is taken.
Bhaurao Shankar Lokhande v. State of Maharashtra, AIR 1965 SC 1564. A man was prosecuted for bigamy for a second marriage. It was admitted that the invocation before the sacred fire and the saptapadi were not performed at the second marriage. The Supreme Court acquitted him. A marriage is "solemnized" only when it is celebrated with proper ceremonies and in due form. Merely going through some ceremonies is not enough. These two ceremonies are essential unless a custom of the community has changed them.
So proper ceremonies are a true condition of validity. Without them there is no marriage at all.
The effect of breaking each condition
| Condition | What it requires | Effect of breach |
|---|---|---|
| Opening words of s.5 | Both parties Hindus | No marriage under this Act |
| (i) | No spouse living | Void (s.11); bigamy (s.17, BNS s.82) |
| (ii) | Mental capacity | Voidable (s.12(1)(b)) |
| (iii) | Ages 21 and 18 | Valid under this Act, but punishable (s.18(a)); void in Karnataka under PCMA s.3(1A) |
| Condition | What it requires | Effect of breach |
|---|---|---|
| (iv) | Not within prohibited degrees | Void unless custom permits (s.11); punishable (s.18(b)) |
| (v) | Not sapindas | Void unless custom permits (s.11); punishable (s.18(b)) |
| s.7 | Customary ceremonies | No valid marriage |
Registration is not a condition
Section 8 allows States to make rules for registering Hindu marriages. Section 8(5) says the validity of a marriage "shall in no way be affected by the omission to make the entry". So registration is proof of a marriage, not a condition of it.
Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, (2006) 2 SCC 578. The Supreme Court directed every State to frame rules for the compulsory registration of marriages. This made registration compulsory in practice across India. It did not change section 8(5). An unregistered marriage that meets sections 5 and 7 is still valid.
A comment on the conditions
The conditions follow a clear policy. Monogamy and the bars on close relationships are so serious that breach makes the marriage void. Mental incapacity affects only the parties, so the marriage is voidable at the choice of the other party. The age rule is the weak point. Under the central Act a child marriage stays valid, which many writers criticise. Karnataka has answered that criticism by making child marriage void.
Conclusion. A valid Hindu marriage needs two Hindu parties, the five conditions of section 5, and the customary ceremonies of section 7. Breach of monogamy, the prohibited degrees or the sapinda rule makes the marriage void. Breach of the mental capacity condition makes it voidable. Breach of the age condition leaves it valid under the Act but punishable, though in Karnataka a child marriage is now void. As Bhaurao Lokhande shows, a marriage without the essential ceremonies is no marriage. Registration only proves a marriage and never decides its validity.
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