Hindu Marriages Require ‘Saptapadi’ and Rituals,” Rules Allahabad High Court

Allahabad High Court rules that a Hindu marriage must include the ‘Saptapadi’ ceremony and other essential rituals to be considered valid. In a recent decision, Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh quashed the proceedings of a case where a man alleged that his estranged wife had entered into a second marriage without divorcing him.

The court emphasized that for a marriage to be valid, it must be celebrated with proper ceremonies and due form. The absence of these essential elements renders the marriage invalid in the eyes of the law. The ‘Saptapadi’ ceremony, where the bride and groom take seven steps together around the sacred fire, is a crucial component of Hindu marriage law and completes the marriage when the seventh step is taken.

The judgment also referred to Section 7 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, which allows Hindu marriages to be solemnized according to customary rites and ceremonies. The absence of ‘Saptapadi’ in the complaint and statements before the court led the high court to conclude that no prima facie offense was established against the wife regarding her alleged second marriage.

The case involved a petitioner named Smriti Singh, who had accused her husband of dowry harassment and subsequently faced allegations of bigamy. The court found the bigamy accusations to be baseless after a thorough investigation and quashed the complaint and summoning order against Smriti Singh.

In essence, the Allahabad High Court’s ruling underscores the significance of observing traditional Hindu marriage ceremonies, particularly the ‘Saptapadi,’ to validate a marriage under Hindu law.

Re-reported from the article originally published in The India Today