Kanyadan not essential ceremony for valid Hindu marriage: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court recently observed that 'Kanyadan' (a ritual where the father of the bride 'gives away' his daughter to the groom) is not an essential ceremony for the solemnization of a valid Hindu marriage..A bench of Justice Subhash Vidyarthi made the observation in an order passed on March 22, after referring to Section 7 (ceremonies for Hindu marriage) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955."Hindu Marriage Act merely provides saptpadi as an essential ceremony of a Hindu marriage and it does not provide that the ceremony of kanyadan is essential for solemnization of a Hindu marriage," the Court said. .Pertinently, Section 7 of the Hindu Marriage says that a Hindu marriage may be solemnized in accordance with the customary rites and ceremonies of either party to the marriage. The provision adds that where such rites and ceremonies include the saptpadi (taking of seven steps by bridegroom and bride jointly before the sacred fire), the marriage becomes complete and binding when the seventh step is taken..The Court's attention was drawn to this provision while dealing with a petition seeking the recall of certain witnesses in a case pending before a sessions court in Lucknow. The petitioner had alleged that there were certain discrepancies in the earlier witness statements concerning a marriage certificate that was presented to support the conduct of a marriage in 2015. The petitioner argued that two witnesses (a woman and her father) had to be re-examined to check whether a kanyadan was performed during the marriage, since the kanyadan is an essential part of a Hindu marriage. .On March 6, the trial court had rejected the petitioner's plea to recall witnesses under Section 311 Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which empowers a court to summon any witness as need for a just decision in a case.The correctness of this trial court order was questioned by the petitioner before the High Court. .The High Court, however, upheld the trial court order after opining that there was no need to go into whether kanyadan was performed or not to determine whether a valid Hindu marriage had taken place."Whether the ceremony of Kanyadan was performed or not, would not be essential for the just decision of the case and, therefore, a witnesses cannot be summoned under Section 311 Cr.P.C. for proving this fact," the Court held..The Court added that the power under Section 311, CrPC cannot be exercised in a casual manner or on the mere asking of a litigant. "There can be no denial of the fact that this Court has ample power to summon any witness under Section 311 Cr.P.C., the power cannot be exercised in a casual manner on the mere asking of a litigant. This power has to be exercised merely only when it is essential to summon a witness for a just decision of a case," the Court said..With these observations, the Court dismissed the petition seeking the recall of witnesses. Advocates Girdhari Lal Yadav, Priyanka Pal, Satendra Kumar and Shivesh Yadav appeared for the petitioner.Government Advocate Abhishek Kumar Singh appeared for the State..[Read Order]