Can Jains seek relief under Hindu Marriage Act? HC to decide

Hearing an appeal, the Madhya Pradesh high court has said it would decide if a Jain person can seek any relief under the Hindu Marriage Act in a matrimonial case such as divorce by mutual consent.

The issue arose after a family court in Indore on February 8 refused to accept an application by a 37-year-old software engineer belonging to the Jain community who sought divorce from his wife by mutual consent under section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

The family court held that after the Jain community was granted the minority status in 2014, it does not seem legally appropriate to give the petitioner the benefit of the law related to "any religion having beliefs contrary to his religion".

The man challenged the family court's ruling before the high court.

The bench of Justices Vivek Rusia and Gajendra Singh on Monday noted in their order that as per the lawyers for both parties, the issue has not been decided by any court yet.

"Some of the counsels who are present in the court submit that as many as 28 petitions filed under section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act have been dismissed by the first additional principal judge, Family Court, Indore and in some of the cases, appeals have already been filed before this court," it said.

Till it pronounces its decision on the issue, the family court is restrained from dismissing pending petitions on the ground that a Jain person cannot be given any relief under the Hindu Marriage Act, the HC said.

"....we hereby appoint A K Sethi,  senior advocate, as amicus curiae to assist this court," said the bench, scheduling the next hearing on March 18.

The petitioner in the present case got married in 2017. In 2024, the couple approached the family court seeking divorce by mutual consent under section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act.

The family court held that after the government issued a notification on January 27, 2014, granting minority status to the Jain community, followers of the religion no longer had any right to get relief under the Hindu Marriage Act.

It, however, stated that a Jain person is free to present any marital dispute cases before it for resolution under section 7 of the Family Court Act.

In his plea in the high court, the petitioner pointed out that under section 2 of the Hindu Marriage Act, it is also applicable to the Jain, Buddhist and Sikh communities besides the Hindus.