In exercise of the powers
(Conferred by Section 21 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (No. 25 of 1955), the
Punjab High Court has made the following rules :- These rules may be called the
Hindu Marriage (Punjab) Rules, 1956. In these rules unless there is
anything repugnant in the subject or context - (a)
'Act' means the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (No. 25 of 1955). (b)
'Form' means a form appended to these rules. (c)
'Section' and 'Sub-Section' mean, respectively, Section and
Sub-Section of the Act. (d)
All other terms and expressions used herein but not defined shall
have the meaning respectively assigned to them in the Act. A petition under the Act shall be
accompanied by a certified extract from the Hindu Marriage Register maintained
under section 8 of the Act and in the absence of the same an affidavit, to the
effect that petitioner was married to the respondent (unless the certificate or
affidavit is already on the record). All petitions under sections 9 to
13 shall state :- (i)
The date and place of the marriage. (ii)
Whether the petitioner and the respondent were Hindus by religion
at the time of the marriage and whether they continue to be so up to the date
of the filing of the petition. (iii)
The status and place of residence of the parties to the marriage
before the marriage and at the time of filing the petition. (iv)
The principal permanent addresses where the parties have
co-habited, including the address where they last resided together. (v)
Whether there have been previous proceedings with regard to
marriage by or on behalf of any party; if so, the result of those proceedings. (vi)
Whether any children were born of the marriage and if so, the date
and place of birth and the name and sex of each child separately; and whether
alive or dead. (vii)
The matrimonial offences charged set in separate paragraphs with
the times and places of their alleged commission. A petition for divorce on grounds
of adultery, shall state that the petitioner has not in any manner been
accessory to or connived at or condoned the adultery. In any petition for divorce the
petitioner shall be required to give particulars as nearly as he can of the
acts of adultery alleged to have been committed by the respondent or
respondents, as the case may be. A petition for divorce, after the
passing of a decree for judicial separation, shall be accompanied by an
affidavit made by the petitioner to the effect that he or she has not resumed
co-habitation for a period of two years or upwards after the passing of a
decree for judicial separation. Every petition or application
under the Act shall be presented to the Court in person or through an Advocate
or a Pleader or a recognised agent. (1)
A notice of every petition or application under the Act shall be
issued to the respondent in Form A to appear and answer the claim on a day to
be therein specified ; Provided that no such notice
would be necessary when the respondent appears at the time of the presentation
of the petition or application. Copies for respondent. -- (2)
Every such notice shall be accompanied by a copy of the petition
or application. The required number of copies of the petition or application
shall be supplied by the petitioner or applicant at the time of its
presentation in Court. Upon a petition presented by a
husband for divorce on the ground of adultery, the petitioner shall make the
alleged adulterer a co-respondent. The petitioner may, however, be excused from
so doing on any of the following grounds with the permission of the Court:- (a)
That the respondent is leading the life of a prostitute and that
the petitioner knows of no particular person with whom the adultery has been
committed; (b)
that the name of the alleged adulterer is un-known to the
petitioner although he has made due efforts to discover the same; (c)
that the alleged adulterer is dead. Where a husband is charged with
adultery with a named person, a true copy of the pleadings, containing such
charge shall unless the Court for good cause shown otherwise directs, be served
upon the person with whom adultery is alleged to have been committed,
accompanied by a notice that such person is entitled, within the time therein
specified, to apply for leave to intervene in the cause. (a)
A respondent or a co-respondent or a woman to whom leave to
intervene has been granted under these rules, may file in the Court an answer
to the petition. (b)
Any answer which contains matter other than a simple denial of the
facts stated in the petition shall be verified in respect of such matters by
the respondent or co-respondent, as the case may be, in the manner required by
the rules for the verification of petitions and when the respondent is husband
or wife of the petitioner, the answer shall contain a declaration that there is
not any collusion or connivance between the parties. (c)
Where the answer of a husband alleges adultery and prays for
relief, a certified copy thereof shall be served upon the alleged adulterer,
together with a notice to appear in like manner as on a petition. When in such
a case no relief is claimed the alleged adulterer, shall not be made a
co-respondent but a certified copy of the answer shall be served upon him
together with a notice that he is entitled within the time therein specified to
apply for leave to intervene in the proceedings and upon such application, he
may be allowed to intervene, subject to such direction, as may be given by the
Court. Any person, not a party to the
proceedings, may be permitted by the Court to intervene and show that the
allegations made by the petitioner are contrary to facts and that the proceedings
are collusive. Such permission shall not be granted unless the person seeking
to intervene files an affidavit in support of his position and satisfies the
Court that it is proper to give such permission. Such person shall, when he
first appears in Court, file a proceeding stating his or her address for
service. Whenever in any petition
presented by a husband, the alleged adulterer has been made a co-respondent and
the adultery has been established the Court may order the co-respondent to pay
the whole or any part of the costs of the proceedings : Provided that the co-respondent
shall not be ordered to pay the petitioner's costs - (i)
if the respondent was, at the time of the adultery, living apart
from her husband and was leading the life of a prostitute, or (ii)
if the co-respondent had not, at the time of the adultery, reason
to believe the respondent to be a married woman. Every Court shall maintain a
register in which the details regarding petitions shall be entered and it shall
conform to Civil Register No. III maintained for Divorce and Matrimonial Cases. The forms given in the Appendix
to these rules may, with necessary modifications, be used in the proceedings
under the Act. (High Court Notification No. 271-Genl/XXVII-19, dated the 22nd
November, 1956).THE HINDU MARRIAGE (PUNJAB)
RULES, 1956
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