New Delhi, August 29
The Delhi High Court has categorically held that “a duly solemnised Hindu marriage cannot be dissolved by signing a marriage dissolution deed before village persons.”
With this observation, the high court dismissed the plea of a CISF constable who was challenging his dismissal for contracting a second marriage while his first marriage was still subsisting.
A Division Bench of Justice C Hari Shankar and Justice Om Prakash Shukla observed that no legal principle permits the dissolution of a Hindu marriage through such informal means.
The court further observed that Rule 18 of the CISF Rules also extends to situations where an employee enters into a second marriage after joining the service.
Citing the precedent in Ex. Head Constable Bazir Singh v Union of India, the court stressed that the rule must be interpreted pragmatically. “If a person with two wives is ineligible even for appointment, it would be absurd to say that he can perform a second marriage after joining the service,” the judges remarked, adding that such conduct makes the employee ineligible to continue in service.
The petitioner had argued that his first marriage had ended through a dissolution deed executed in 2017 before “social people and witnesses” in his village. The court rejected this contention outright, stating that the law does not recognise such a practice.
While noting that in the Bazir Singh case, the punishment awarded was compulsory retirement, the Bench pointed out that it could not grant similar relief as the petitioner had not completed the qualifying service for retirement benefits. The High Court concluded that the case was fully covered by existing precedents and that the petitioner had “no defence on merits.”
The High Court upheld the disciplinary action and dismissed the writ petition.
