On a careful reading of Clause (c)
of Section 12(1) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, it will appear that both the parties,
in case of adult, are obliged to divulge mutually and unequivocally the
material fact or circumstances to each other before or at least at the time of
marriage so much so that element of deception is ruled out. The words material
facts or circumstances have not been defined or specified. It varies from one
family to another, according to culture, ethos and social system in ages and
situation. For example in a conservative family having attachment with puritan
society in a marriage inevitable and unerring expectation is that both the bride
and the groom must not have any record of prior marriage in any sense nor will
have any marriage in any sense, not even any premarital affairs with other boy
or girl (as the case may be). They cannot think of even marrying outside their
caste and community, conversely , a family with liberal and cosmopolitan approach,
thought, particularly in urban area will not mind in case of marriage even
having knowledge of background of prior marriage or premarital affair with
other counter sex outside their caste and community. In case of former,
concealment of caste, community or background of prior marriage or premarital
affairs before or at the time of marriage is obviously extremely material and
it amounts to fraud in obtaining consent.
In
the case of Saswati Chattopadhyay v. Avik Chattopadhyay, (2011) 3 ICC 51, the
husband was not informed about the earlier marriage at the time of negotiation or
at the time of solemnization of the marriage. On inquiry, the husband came to
know that there had been previous marriage of the appellant with one Sudip and
it was also discovered that the earlier marriage was dissolved by consent. When
the matter reached to the Family Court, it came to the conclusion that there
has been suppression of the relevant fact with regard to the premarital status
of the appellant and such relevant fact goes to the root of the matrimonial
relationship. On an appeal, the Calcutta High court endorsed the view taken by the
trial court and observed that premarital status of a party is a material fact
which the other party must know before imparting consent for marriage. Pradeep Kumar Maheshwari v. Smt. Anita Agarwal, 2019 (2) AWC 1369.