The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (HMA) is an Act of the Parliament of India that was enacted on May 18, 1955, to amend and codify the law relating to marriage among Hindus. It was part of the larger Hindu Code Bills, which also included the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, and the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956. The Act's main purpose was to bring uniformity to the law governing Hindu marriages and to introduce concepts like judicial separation and divorce, which were previously not recognized under traditional Shastrik Law.
The HMA applies to any person who is a Hindu, Buddhist, Jaina, or Sikh by religion. Key provisions for a valid marriage are outlined in Section 5, which mandates monogamy, requires the bridegroom to be at least 21 years old and the bride to be at least 18 years old, and prohibits marriage between parties who are sapindas or within prohibited degrees of relationship. The Act recognizes customary rites, such as the Saptapadi (seven steps), for the solemnization of marriage under Section 7.
The Act provides for legal remedies like restitution of conjugal rights (Section 9), judicial separation (Section 10), and divorce (Section 13). Grounds for divorce include cruelty, adultery, and desertion for a period of two or more years. Section 13B allows for divorce by mutual consent after a six-month cooling period. The HMA connects closely with the Special Marriage Act, 1954, which provides a secular option for inter-faith marriages. A significant recent change occurred with the Personal Laws (Amendment) Act, 2019, which eliminated leprosy as a ground for divorce by removing Section 13(1)(iv) from the HMA, reflecting modern medical understanding. The Supreme Court, in Devinder Singh Narula v. Meenakshi Nangia (2012), ruled that the six-month waiting period under Section 13B can be waived in certain cases by exercising its power under Article 142 of the Constitution.