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May 4, 20233 min read

Is Section 14 Hindu Marriage Act Permit To File Case Within One Year

In India, a wedding is the most significant occasion in a family's existence, evoking every social obligation, familial tie, conventional value, intense emotion, and financial resource. The most obvious manifestations of India's complex social structure variations are the planning and carrying out of weddings. Hindu kinship and marriage customs are different in the north and the south of India.


In the center, mountainous north, and eastern regions, diverse ethnic and tribal groups also practice other customs. The Hindu Marriage Act provides guidelines for Hindus on how to establish a structured marriage partnership. It gives marriage meaning, enables the bride and groom to cohabitate, and provides their family and children with a sense of stability so they may live their lives without worrying about their parents.


No divorce petition may be filed with the court until a year has passed following the wedding, according to Section 14 of the law. A divorce petition may also be filed in the family court in the location of the marriage or where the parties last resided as a married couple. So, if Court Marriage In Delhi with Court Marriage Process Delhi has been done then Marriage Certificate Delhi will be given to the couple and the couple can file divorce petition in Delhi.

Case Laws:

  • The Delhi High Court held in Sankalp Singh v. Prarthana Chandra (2013 SCC OnLine Del 855) that the courts may permit a petition to be filed prior to the marriage's first anniversary in specific circumstances of extreme hardship or depravity on the side of the Respondent. Nonetheless, the parties must show that their agreement was reached voluntarily and free from compulsion, suggestion, or undue influence. In addition, it's critical to show that there are no chances for a peaceful conclusion and that each participant understands the implications of their decision.

  • In Rishu Aggarwal vs. Mohit Goyal MAT.APP. (F.C.) 110/2021 & CM APPL. 41458/20, the Delhi High Court ruled that denying cohabitation during a marriage cannot be justified as "exceptional hardship" or "exceptional depravity" and cannot be used to waive the one-year requirement, which will only be excused in exceptional cases. The Court further noted that refusal to enter into a committed partnership or non-consummation due to behavioural or temperamental differences can only be grounds for divorce under cruelty.

  • The husband in Rabindra Nath Mukherjee v. Iti Mukherjee (1991) sued his wife on the grounds of cruelty in accordance with Section 13 of the Act. The trial court dismissed the petition on the grounds that it had violated Section 14's requirements by being filed just a few days before the anniversary of the marriage. The Calcutta High Court ruled that the clause is not mandatory following an appeal.

The directory provisions of a law:

Those that are not required to be followed can be said to have been followed if there is an appropriate but imperfect level of compliance, according to the fair trial rule. Although the non-obstante phrase at the beginning of Section 14 (1) of the HMA, the provision to that subsection's first sentence makes this provision of the HMA a law. A law provision is "directory" in nature rather than "mandatory," and if that is the case, as was previously said, what has to be demonstrated is sufficient and/or ample compliance.


Exceptional Circumstances:

The rule does not entirely forbid divorce petitions filed before the conclusion of the first year of marriage, which is a good concept to discourage rash divorces. The Section's provision is intended to assist extraordinary instances, and the court will decide each case on its own merits because there may be complex cases that call for quick judicial action. Extraordinary conditions might exist in:

  • Extreme hardship for the petitioner; or

  • Extreme depravity on the respondent's behalf.

When the petitioner is going through so much hardship that life has become an absolute tragedy, or when the respondent has committed such a heinous moral offence that it has become completely intolerable for the petitioner, it would be possible to grant a divorce decree without waiting for the predetermined one-year period to pass.


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