Will You Face Any Legal Action If You Re-marry Your Partner in India?
Will You Face Any Legal Action If You Re-marry Your Partner in India?
In the ambit of the Indian legal system, laws and personal laws along with the statutes–The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and the Special Marriage Act, 1954 cover the institution of marriage, divorce, and remarriage. The recent media buzz around Sanjay Dutt’s symbolic remarriage with his third wife, Manyata Dutt (after their first legal wedding in 2008) raises an interesting question: what remarriage of the same person by the same person in India through a divorce: what are the legal consequences? Check out the legal implications of this scenario.
Is It Legal to Remarry Your Partner?
Yes, it is legal in India to remarry your partner. However, the second marriage should be formal but not legal. The first legal marriage remains valid, and the second would be perceived as taking an oath once again or, according to tradition, not a legal marriage.
The pictures of Sanjay Dutt and Manyata doing rounds on the internet can essentially be stated to be symbolic and not of the legal format of the marriage, which, if not, is not unlawful.
Bigamy Laws in India
In India, bigamy is Illegal as per Indian laws such as the Hindu Marriage Act of bishops and other religious marriage acts. Liaison means having more than one wife or husband at a time; section 17 of the Hindu Marriage Act prohibits this. However, this is not the case if one is going to get a vow renewal ceremony with his or her legally wedded husband or wife. There is no legal consequence for getting a marriage contract with the same partner, but another marriage contract is signed.
Legal Nuances: Religious and Social Ceremonies
Some cultures renew their marriage vows, either for cultural or marital reasons. In many cases, these ceremonies are social, religious, or even personal, not the re-registration of marriage in accordance with the law. Under such conditions, no legal deal is created, so there is no law breaking.
If the remarriage is just for the sake of personal or religious purposes, then Indian law does not intervene, provided the person does not try to mandate the second marriage, which is legally distinct from the first marriage.
Marriage Registration: Is It Needed Again?
The registration of marriage in India is a one time process. After the legal documentation of your marriage, your marriage remains lawful until it is legally annulled through the process of divorce. It should, however, be noted that if a couple renews marriage vows in a religious ceremony, they do not need to re-register their marriage. Something could go wrong and one or both might not be registered, but it is not unlawful unless fraud or bigamy is involved in an attempt at registering the second marriage.
Legal Implications of Marital Status for Property and Inheritance
When the same partner remarries ceremonially, there are no changes in legal effects, succession, or inheritance. The previous marriage is, however, still controlled by the marriage registration of the prior marriage; hence, remarrying is seen as more of a ceremony.
Conclusion
In conclusion, India offers no legal issues with regamary and get-married ceremonies such as Sanjay and Manyata Dutt symbolized. The first legal marriage registered remains legal. Otherwise, any kind of remarriage is considered a cultural or individually initiated action that should not have any legal consequences.
Here are a few famous cases of personalities who remarried, with notable judgments or legal discussions related to their marital statuses:
1. Sanjay Dutt and Manyata Dutt
- Context: Manyata Dutt became Sanjay Dutt’s third wife when they got married in 2008. In recent past, the couple participated in what can be termed more of a rewedding ceremony.
- Legal Perspective: This was no common second marriage, which would be legal, but a renewal of the marriage vow, which was considered holy. There was no legal question or judgment to answer in the case since they were legally married in 2008 and were now remarried as well. Newly-wedding ceremonies can be held such ceremonies are common and do not constitute marriage within the purview of Indian marriage laws.
2. Saira Banu and Dilip Kumar
- Context: The iconic actor Dilip Kumar, after his first marriage with Saira Banu, had a brief second marriage with Asma Rehman. This second marriage was later annulled, and he returned to his first wife, Saira Banu.
- Legal Judgment: Dilip Kumar’s second marriage was annulled so that he could reunite with his first wife. As the second marriage was not performed under Muslim personal law or due process, technically, it did not cause prolonged legal implications.
3. Dharmendra and Hema Malini
- Context: Actor Dharmendra, who married Hema Malini in 1980, was already a married man. Reportedly, he does not want to violate the Hindu Marriage Act and not be allowed to marry her due to bigamy; that is why he allegedly became a Muslim, which allows polygamy.
- Legal Judgment: The change of religion allowed Dharmendra to remarry without keeping a legal separation from his wife. In legal conversations, this particular case of Indian bigamy is usually cropped up when discussing instances when many cases of religious conversion are used as a loophole.
4. Karisma Kapoor and Sanjay Kapur
- Context: Karisma Kapoor has not remarried since separating from businessman Sanjay Kapur in 2016, but her former husband has since then remarried Priya Sachdev. This case made it to the newspaper because of the child support issue and alimony.
- Legal Judgment: In this judgment, the court awarded Karisma Kapoor full custody of the children and that Sanjay Kapur could visit the children. Maintenance and alimony provided in the divorce proceedings more or less crystallized the manner in which such elite divorces were to be in India though no legal wrangle over remarriage.
