The Supreme Court of India is set to deliberate on whether alimony can be granted in cases where a marriage has been declared void. A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and PB Varale noted that there are conflicting interpretations by different division benches regarding Sections 24 and 25 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (HMA). As a result, the court has called for a three-judge bench to resolve this legal ambiguity.
Section 24 of the HMA deals with the provision of interim maintenance during ongoing litigation between spouses, while Section 25 covers permanent alimony and maintenance. Under Section 11 of the HMA, a marriage is deemed void if it involves bigamy, falls within prohibited degrees of relationship, or if the parties are sapinda of each other as defined in Section 5 of the Act.
The counsel representing both parties agreed that a larger bench is necessary due to the conflicting views on the applicability of Sections 24 and 25 in cases where the marriage has been declared void.
The Supreme Court referenced several decisions supporting the grant of alimony in such void marriages, including:
- Yamunabai Anantrao Adhav v. Anantrao Shivram Adhav & Another (1988) 1 SCC 530
- Abbayolla Reddy v. Padmamma AIR 1999 AP 19
- Navdeep Kaur v. Dilraj Singh (2003) 1 HLR 100
- Bhausaheb @ Sandhu S/o Raguji Magar v. Leelabai W/o Bhausaheb Magar (2004) AIR Bom. 283(FB)
- Savitaben Somabhai Bhatiya v. State of Gujarat & Others (2005) 3 SCC 636
Conversely, the following judgments have ruled against awarding alimony in cases where the marriage is declared void:
- Chand Dhawan v. Jawaharlal Dhawan (1993) 3 SCC 406
- Rameshchandra Rampratapji Daga v. Rameshwari Rameshchandra Daga (2005) 2 SCC 33
The court has now directed that the case records be submitted to the Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud, for the formation of a three-judge bench to address this issue.
“Let the papers be placed before Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India for passing appropriate orders,” the court ordered.
