Having sex even once amounts to ‘consummation’ of marriage: HC

In a significant ruling, the Bombay High Court on Friday ruled that even a single occurrence of sexual intercourse would amount to the consummation of marriage. The HC also said that an absence of a sexual relationship between a husband and a wife frustrates the entire object of marriage.

The ruling was delivered by a single-judge bench of Justice Mridula Bhatkar while dissolving an ‘irretrievably’ broken marriage between a 33-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman. The woman claimed that she was defrauded by the man by obtaining her signatures on the pretext of getting her a job. She claimed that the man had instead obtained her signatures on the marriage registration form under the Special Marriage Act.

Justice Bhatkar said, “One of the most important objects of the marriage is a regularization of a sexual relationship between the two parties and in an absence of such relationship, the object of marriage is frustrated.”

“Even a single occurrence of sexual intercourse amounts to the consummation of marriage,” Justice Bhatkar ruled.

Justice Bhatkar was hearing a unique case wherein both the man and the woman, on one hand, claimed that though married, they had never lived together even for a single day, but were fighting since the last nine years to end the relationship.

Having considered the facts of the case, Justice Bhatkar said that since the parties did not stay together even for a single day and since there is no evidence of a sexual relationship, the marriage could be nullified.

While nullifying the marriage, Justice Bhatkar said, “The time does not stop for anybody and all the courts dealing with matrimonial issues have to consider that the age of the parties in marriage proceedings has an important bearing on the issues before the Court. Nine years have passed and the parties have become very bitter and vindictive towards each other and blame one another for ruining nine years of their life. This attitude is going to ruin their furthermore years.”

“This situation like Gordian knot is required to be dealt with, as lives of two young persons are at stake, may be due to their incorrect or self-destructive decisions. Thus, marriage is declared a nullity due to nonconsummation,” she ruled.