Section 19 of the Divorce Act 1869 - Grounds for Decree of Nullity

Section 19 of the Divorce Act, 1869 specifies the grounds on which a court may grant a decree declaring a marriage null and void. It forms part of Chapter IV of the Act dealing with nullity of marriage and should be read with Section 18, which permits either spouse to present a petition for a decree of nullity.

Legal context: The Divorce Act, 1869 is a Central Act governing, among other matters, matrimonial relief under the Act. Section 19 concerns nullity of marriage, not the separate statutory grounds for dissolution of marriage by divorce.

What Section 19 provides

Under Section 19, a decree of nullity may be made on any of the following statutory grounds:

Impotence: the respondent was impotent at the time of the marriage and also at the time when the suit was instituted.
Prohibited degree of relationship: the parties are within a prohibited degree of consanguinity, whether natural or legal, or affinity.
Mental condition at the time of marriage: either party was, in the terminology used in the enacted provision, a "lunatic or idiot" at the time of the marriage.
Former spouse living and prior marriage subsisting: the former husband or wife of either party was living at the time of the marriage and the earlier marriage with that former spouse was then still in force.

Force or fraud: Section 19 further preserves the jurisdiction of the District Court to make a decree of nullity where the consent of either party to the marriage was obtained by force or fraud.

Meaning of important terms

Decree of nullity A judicial decree declaring that the marriage is legally null on a ground recognized by the applicable matrimonial law.

Impotence In the context of Section 19, the statutory ground requires the respondent to have been impotent both at the time of marriage and at the institution of the suit.

Consanguinity Relationship between persons by blood. Section 19 also refers to consanguinity that is natural or legal.

Affinity A relationship arising through marriage rather than blood relationship.

Subsisting prior marriage A prior marriage that remained legally in force when the later marriage was contracted.

Force or fraud Section 19 expressly preserves nullity jurisdiction where matrimonial consent was obtained by force or fraud; whether the facts satisfy that ground depends on the evidence and applicable law.

Section 18 and Section 19 read together

Section 18 of the Divorce Act deals with the right of a husband or wife to petition the District Court for a decree of nullity. Section 19 then identifies the grounds on which such a decree may be made. A petition should therefore plead the applicable statutory ground and the material facts relied upon to establish it.

District Court jurisdiction

The present text of Section 19 refers to the jurisdiction of the District Court in the concluding provision concerning consent obtained by force or fraud. The earlier reference to the High Court was substituted by the Indian Divorce (Amendment) Act, 2001 with effect from 3 October 2001.

Practical legal points

A decree of nullity is distinct from a decree dissolving a valid marriage. In a nullity proceeding, the petitioner must establish a ground recognized by Section 19 and comply with the procedural and evidentiary requirements applicable to the proceeding. The precise consequences of a decree can also involve other provisions of the Divorce Act, including provisions dealing with children of annulled marriages.

Note on statutory wording: The expressions quoted above for the mental-condition ground reproduce historical terminology appearing in Section 19 of the statute. They are included to identify the statutory text and are not modern clinical terminology.

Official statutory source

The current Central Act text can be checked on the official India Code portal. For court proceedings or professional advice, the latest statutory text, amendments and applicable judicial decisions should be verified before reliance.