Recently, the Allahabad High Court held that once a marriage is declared void ab initio, any subsequent relationship between the parties becomes legally irrelevant. The decision came in a matter where a woman had initiated proceedings under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, even after the marriage had been declared null and void. The Court observed that “once the marriage of the parties itself has been declared void-ab-initio, the subsequent relationship between the parties is of no consequence.”
Brief facts:
In the present case, the woman (opposite party no. 2) had entered into marriage with the revisionist. However, disputes arose later, leading to the registration of a criminal case. During the course of proceedings, it came to light that the woman was already married at the time of this subsequent marriage. The revisionist then filed a civil suit seeking a declaration that their marriage was void, which was decreed in his favour. Despite this, the woman continued to press her application for interim maintenance under the Domestic Violence Act. The trial court allowed her plea, and the appellate court upheld this order. Aggrieved, the revisionist approached the High Court.
Contentions of the Petitioner:
The counsel for the revisionist contended that since the marriage had already been declared void, the courts below erred in granting interim maintenance under the Domestic Violence Act. It was argued that once the marriage stands void ab initio, it relates back to the date of marriage, nullifying any legal consequences thereafter. Hence, there could be no claim for relief under the Act. The counsel relied on D. Velusamy v. D. Patchaiammal and Deoki Panjhiyara v. Shashi Bhushan Narayan Azad & Anr to support the submissions.
Observations of the Court:
The Court observed that it is undisputed that the woman had married the revisionist during the subsistence of her earlier marriage. It noted that the declaratory decree declaring the marriage as null and void had attained finality.
The Court held, “Since by means of the declaratory decree, the marriage of the parties has been declared null and void, it shall relate back to the date of marriage. The logical outcome of the same shall be that once the marriage of the parties itself has been declared void-ab-initio, the subsequent relationship between the parties is of no consequence.”
The Court further stated that there existed no relationship in terms of Section 2(f) of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, once the marriage stood void.
The decision of the Court:
With the above observations, the Court allowed the criminal revision and set aside the impugned orders passed by the courts below.
Case Title: Rajeev Sachdeva V. State of U.P. and Another
Coram: Justice Rajeev Misra
Case No.: CRIMINAL REVISION No. - 1351 of 2023
Advocate for the Revisionist: Adv. Nipun Singh, Sumit Suri
Advocates for the Opposite Party: Adv. Arvind Kumar Trivedi, Balbeer Singh, Dhruv Kumar Dhuriya, G.A., Saurabh Shukla
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