C’garh High Court Declares Marriage Between Sisters’ Children ‘Null And Void’, Calling It ‘Prohibited Relationship’ Under Hindu Wedding Law

A bench comprising Justices K Agrawal and Sanjay Kumar Jaiswal has rejected the verdict by the family court upholding the marriage of a man with his cousin, citing a custom in his community.

The family court had held that although the marriage fell within the prohibited degree of relationship, the union cannot be declared as null and void on the ground that a custom prevalent in the Patel community to which the couple belonged allowed such a marriage.

The family court had held that in the Patel Samaj, the marriage between the daughter and the son of a sister-sister, brother-sister and maternal uncle- paternal aunt is prevalent which is called ‘Brahma Marriage’.

The man later challenged the family court’s verdict in the high court.

The high court has dismissed the family court’s judgment and allowed the plea by the man to declare his marriage null and void, citing the absence of the proof that ‘Brahma Marriage’ is legally recognized custom.

“The defendant has only pleaded that in Patel Samaj (community), marriage between daughter and son of sister-sister, brother-sister, and maternal uncle-paternal aunt is prevalent and it is called as Brahma marriage……. Whereas it is required to be pleaded and established that such a custom permitting marriage between the parties of degrees of prohibited relationship is prevalent in their society and they are continuously and uniformly observing the said custom for a fairly long time and that it has obtained the force of law”, the order by the high court, delivered on May one, said.