Patna: A woman’s name recorded as spouse in the voters’ list cannot serve as legal proof of a valid Hindu marriage, the Patna high court observed while dismissing an appeal.A division bench of Justices Bibek Chaudhuri and Rana Vikram Singh, in its Aug 5 order, reiterated that evidence of essential Hindu marriage rituals, including ‘saptapadi’ (the couple walking around the fire seven times while taking matrimonial vows) and ‘sindoor daan’ (the groom applying vermillion along the central parting of the bride’s head) is required to establish a valid marriage. A copy of the 28-page judgment was made public on Thursday.Durgawati Devi had appealed against a Siwan family court judgment which declared her not a legally wedded wife of Sachita Chaudhary. Durgawati claimed that on May 22, 1990, she had married Suresh Chaudhary and had a son and a daughter from him. Suresh later passed away. In 2002, Durgawati married Suresh’s brother Sachita. She later alleged that her in-laws tortured her, forcing her to leave the matrimonial home. She sought maintenance from Sachita by filing a case before the Siwan family court in 2004. The court allowed her claim in 2005 and awarded her a monthly maintenance of Rs 1,000.Sachita subsequently sought a declaration from the family court that Durgawati was not his legally wedded wife as no marriage had been solemnised between them. The family court allowed his suit in 2020.Durgawati then moved high court, which refused to interfere observing there was neither oral nor documentary evidence to establish that the essential Hindu marriage rituals had been performed. The voter list entries of 2004 and 2009 showing Durgawati as Sachita’s wife were also held to be “unreliable evidence” by the bench.
