Annulment of marriage basically means the ending of marriage which never existed. The process of declaring a marriage null and void is known as annulment of marriage. A marriage can be declared null and void due to a number of different reasons. One of it could be that the essentials of marriage were not fulfilled during marriage. When certain legal requirements are not met at the time of marriage then the marriage will not be a valid marriage. The value of the marriage may not exist in the eyes of the law due to the unfulfillment of the legal requirements. The provisions governing the annulment of marriage have been dealt under different personal laws.

Hindu Marriage Act, 1955
Marriage is considered as a scared bond under the Hindu tradition. The laws of Hindu Marriage Act have completely shifted the provisions governing marriages under Hindus; the new laws have tried to customize it so as to remove the social disparity. The marriage under Hindu law can be of three types- valid, Void, and Voidable.
Under Section 5 of the Hindu Marriage Act, conditions have been laid down which needs to be followed for the marriage to be declared valid. All of the conditions mentioned in Section 5 have to be followed for a marriage to be valid.

Void and voidable marriages-
When the conditions mentioned under Section 5 are not followed, the marriage will be considered null and void. Under Section 11 of the Hindu Marriage Act, it has been stated that any marriage which has been solemnized after the commencement of this Act will be declared void if the conditions mentioned under clause (I), (iv), and (v) of Section 5 are present. The conditions are –

  1. The relationship of the parties should not be between the prohibited degree of marriage as stated in the HMA,
  2. The parties should not have any other spouse living at the time of the marriage,
  3. The parties should not be sapinda of each other.

In case, the above conditions exist during or before the marriage the marriage will be void-ab-inito. In case any of these conditions exist, the parties do not need to approach the court to get a decree for the nullity of the marriage as the marriage will be void abintio.

Voidable marriages are dealt under Section 12 of the HMA. The marriage will be voidable if the following conditions followed-

  1. When the marriage is not consummated by the parties to the marriage;
  2. When the marriage is in violation of the conditions mentioned under Section 5(ii) those are- when wither party to the marriage is incapable of giving consent, if both are parties are able to give the consent but they suffer from a mental disorder or when wither party of the marriage is subject to attacks of insanity.
  3. When the consent was based on fraud or force or was not free consent
  4. When the wife was pregnant with the child of some other person which is not the husband.

The decree of nullity of marriage can be filed when the above-mentioned conditions are present. If the decree is being filed on the basis that the consent was obtained on the basis of fraud the petition will not be entertained if the following conditions are present-

  1. the petition is after one year or more when the force had ceased to work or the fraud had been discovered as the case may be;
  2. The petitioner has decided or gives his or her consent to live with another party even after the force had ceased to work or the fraud had been discovered as the case may be.

In case the petition being filed on the basis of the fact that the respondent was pregnant with the child of another person other than the petitioner the petition will only be entertained when the following conditions are not present-

  1. The petitioner was unaware of the pregnancy at the time of marriage of the parties;
  2. The procedures were commenced within one year of the beginning of this Act in the event of a marriage solemnized before the commencement of this Act, and within one year of the date of the marriage in the case of a marriage solemnized after the commencement of this Act.
  3. After the disclosure of the pregnancy by the respondent there should not be any intercourse between both parties.

In case the above conditions are present making a marriage void and voidable the marriage will be declared null and void by the court.
Special Marriage Act, 1954
The special marriage act, 1954 govern every citizen of the country irrespective of their religion and special marriage Act allows inter-caste marriages as well. The Section 25 of he said Act deals with the voidable marriages under this Act. The marriage solemnized under this Act will be voidable when –

  1. The marriage has not been solemnized.
  2. The wife was pregnant with the child of a third person other than the husband
  3. If consent was not free consent.

Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936
The marriage under Parsi is governed by the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936. The Marriages under Parisis are solemnized by the way of a ceremony known as ‘Aashrivad’. Section 30 of the Act states that the marriage will be null or void if the marriage has not been consummated due to any natural reasons.

Indian Divorce Act, 1869
The Indian Divorce Act, 1869 governs the Christian community. The Section 18 of this Act states that the married couple has the right to move to court, either District or High Court by filling a petition for declaration of marriage as null and void, Section 19 of the said Act provides ground for the decree of nullity of marriage. The marriage can be declared null and void on the following grounds-

  1. If the respondent is impotent or lunatic at the time of solemnization of marriage;
  2. If the parties of the marriage are related to each other within the prohibited degree of affinity;
  3. If either party to the marriage is idiot or lunatic at the time of the marriage;
  4. If at the time of the marriage the person already had a spouse living.
  5. If the consent was obtained by fraud or was not free consent

The court has the jurisdiction to declare nullity of marriage on the basis of the above mentioned and condition.
The procedure to obtain a decree for the nullity of marriage is almost similar in every personal law the concerned parties file a petition in the concerned court either family or civil courts under their own personal laws. The court’s jurisdiction will be decided on the basis of residence of the both the parties. The court will issue notice to the respondent to give a reply to the court. The court will accordingly grant relief.
The Maintenance under nullity of marriage will be deicide by the court during the proceedings of the decree. The children born out of the void or voidable marriage will be considered legitimate under Section 16 of the Hindu Marriage Act. The present Section provides protection to the children born out of the wedlock and prevents them from being corrupt.