Family, Marriage & Divorce

Kerala Registration of Marriages (Common) Rules of 2008 allow registration of marriage and issue of marriage certificates even after one of the life partners dies. The law is silent on whether it is possible to register a marriage when both the life partners are not alive. However, there have been some cases in which the marriage has been registered and certificate was issued after the demise of both the husband and the wife, in one case, and after the couple got a divorce decree from a court despite having no prior registration of marriage, in another case.

In order to reduce the inordinate delay in disposal of cases by the Family Courts in the Kerala State, the High Court of Kerala issued the following general directions, in Shiju Joy v Nisha and a batch of petitions, decided on 23rd March 2021. The High Court has powers to frame rules for the functioning of the Family Courts in regard to the procedures to be followed by them.

Refusal to register a duly solemnised Hindu marriage by the Registrar of Marriages (Common) based on the reason that the mother of the bride belongs to Muslim community is unjust and illegal. This is what the High Court of Kerala says in Lalan PR & Another v Chief Registrar of Marriages (Common) & Another.

The Supreme Court (SC), however, says if two consenting adult individuals agree to enter into a marriage, the consent of the family or the community or the clan is not necessary. The concern of the individuals has to be given primacy.

The Guidelines framed by the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, in a case pertaining to Protection Officer in Domestic Violence (DV) cases, are enlisted.

A marriage in which either the girl is below 18 years of age, or the boy is below 21 years of age, is a child marriage in India. The essential condition for the validity of an Indian marriage is solemnization or conduct of the religious ceremonies prescribed by the religion to which the parties belong. Child marriage is prohibited in India but such a marriage is not held as unlawful as of now by the courts. The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 (PCMA) is the key law that puts some restraints on child marriages.

Kerala High Court (HC) in Asbi K N v Hashim M U has formulated some guidelines for the Family Court to be followed when any party files a petition seeking its endorsement to an extrajudicial divorce duly concluded under Muslim Personal Law. The judgement was delivered on 12 October 2021. The HC declared the nature of enquiry and trial procedures to be made by the Family Court in such cases. The courts can declare such marital status under Section 7 of the Family Court Act, 1984.

Unilateral withdrawal of consent by the respondent, especially after the appellant has performed his part of the terms in the memorandum of agreement cannot be permitted or tolerated even for a moment, says the High Court of Kerala (HC) in a Matrimonial Appeal relating to Mutual Consent Divorce Such a unilateral withdrawal of consent by the respondent would shatter the faith of the litigants in the justice delivery system and make alternative dispute resolution mechanism a mockery. Such a practice is unsustainable in law.

The High Court of Kerala allowed a lawyer in Kerala and her fiancé in the USA to solemnise their marriage online (on virtual mode) because her fiancé could not travel to India due to travel restrictions, in a case Rintu Thomas v State of Kerala.

When two petitioners, the first of whom is an Indian citizen who belongs to Hindu Community and the other a citizen of Filipina who got converted to Hindu religion as second petitioner, after undergoing sacred marriage ceremonies and rites according to the custom applicable to the community to which the first petitioner belongs held at a temple at Thrissur District and obtaining a certificate issued by the temple authorities evidencing the marriage was solemnized on 13.9.2016, the Marriage Registrar declined to register their marriage under the Kerala Registration of Marriages(Common) Rules, 2008. However, , when the petitioners approached the High Court of Kerala in Pranav AM v The Secretary, Engandiyur Gram Panchayat, the court asked the marriage Registrar to register the marriage under the above rules.

Adoption is a legal process of giving and taking of child to a non-biological parent. It is a process that creates a parent - child relation between persons who are not related by blood. The purpose of adoption is to provide a child, who cannot be cared for by his biological parents, the care of a substitute family. The adoptive family of the child has the responsibility to provide him proper care and protection of a family. An adopted child is entitled to all privileges similar to that of a natural-born child, including the right to inherit, in the new family.