Husband’s Annulment Bid Over Wife’s Alleged Mental Illness Fails For Lack Of Proof: Jharkhand HC

The appellant sought a decree declaring the parties’ marriage, solemnised on 17 November 2016, null and void under Section 12(1)(b) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. He alleged that the respondent was incapable of giving valid consent because of unsoundness of mind, or was suffering from a mental disorder that made her unfit for marriage and procreation.

The respondent denied the allegations and alleged cruelty by the appellant and his family. The Family Court dismissed the suit, finding that the alleged illness had not been proved. On appeal, the appellant acknowledged that there was no documentary evidence establishing the respondent’s mental illness; the evidence included two medical prescriptions and an ultrasonography report.

Section 5(ii) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, prescribes mental-capacity conditions for a Hindu marriage, including capacity to give valid consent and the absence of a mental disorder of the kind or degree specified in the provision. Section 12(1)(b) permits a marriage to be annulled as voidable where it contravenes Section 5(ii).

The Court also applied the general evidentiary principle that pleadings are not a substitute for proof: facts alleged must be established by evidence.

The Court found that the appellant had not produced evidence substantiating the alleged mental illness or incapacity. The medical prescriptions did not indicate a history of mental illness, and the ultrasound report recorded a single intrauterine gestation at 29 weeks and two days; neither document supported the appellant’s case.

The respondent’s testimony, tested in lengthy cross-examination, yielded no material supporting the allegations. The appellant’s own pleading that the respondent had said she did not consent to the marriage because she loved another person was also inconsistent with the claim that she lacked mental capacity to consent. The Court accordingly held that the statutory ground had not been proved.

The appeal was dismissed without costs.