Page 17 - Banking Finance October 2025

LEGAL UPDATE

Hindu marriage valid even

»¹
´
¿
if not registered: Allahabad
¹
HC Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô » »» »¹ ¹¹ ¿ ¿¿ ¿ ´ ´´ ´
Holding that a Hindu marriage does
not become invalid merely because it
is not registered, the Allahabad high
court has clarified that a family court Ò»©­
cannot insist on the production of mar-
riage registration certificate in a peti-
tion filed for divorce on mutual con-
sent.
"It is settled that the registration cer-
tificate of a marriage is only a piece of
evidence to prove the marriage and Ex-cashier held for Rs. 62L ited the bank intending to collect her
absence of registration of marriage will gold theft from PSU bank jewellery but discovered the locker
not invalidate the marriage," the empty. She immediately went to the
court added. locker bank manager who told her that she
took out the gold several years back and
With the above observation, the court A former cashier-cum-vault manager
set aside the order of a family court at of a nationalised bank in Bhowanipore, was shown a signature by bank authori-
Azamgarh, junking applications of pe- Arnab Biswas, was arrested in connec- ties, which she alleged to be forged.
titioners for exemption from produc- tion with the theft of 571 grams of gold The family initially lodged a complaint
ing a registration certificate. jewellery from the bank locker. The with the bank, but the internal enquiry
arrest came after an investigation re- yielded nothing. A complaint was sub-
Allowing the writ petition filed by one
Sunil Dubey, Justice Manish Kumar vealed a forged signature was used to sequently filed with Bhowanipore po-
Nigam in his order delivered on August remove the gold, now valued at over lice, which was later taken up by de-
26 observed, "When a Hindu marriage Rs 62 lakhs. tective department officials. "Forensic
is solemnized in accordance with the The incident dates back to Aug 2017, handwriting experts from Kolkata Po-
provisions of Hindu Marriage Act, when the complainant Siddika Khatun lice confirmed that the signature was
1955, in order to facilitate proof of such had kept 571 grams of gold and dia- forged. Further investigations indicated
marriage by Section 8(1) of the Act, mond jewellery as collateral to secure that the forgery occurred inside the
1955, the state governments are em- a Rs 9.4 lakh loan for her son's MBBS bank and was carried out by individu-
powered to make rules for registration education. als who had access to the vault," said
of such marriage. Such rules may pro- "The loan was fully repaid by Jan 2018. Sourin Ghoshal, public prosecutor at
vide for keeping over Hindu Marriage But we did not immediately retrieve Alipore Court.
register, wherein parties may record the pledged jewellery, as my mother Cops said they previously arrested an-
the particulars of their marriage in other person in connection with the
was not staying in Kolkata," said Md
such manner and subject to such con- Ayatollah, Khatun's son. case. Continuing their probe, the po-
ditions as may be prescribed." lice apprehended Biswas, who formerly
Pratyakumar Khan, the complainant's worked as a cashier in charge of the
"Due to failure to make an entry of the
marriage in the register, the validity of lawyer stressed that the full loan vault. Biswas was produced before the
the marriage is not affected. Even amount was repaid in less than six Alipore Court, which instructed that he
though the state government makes months. "Since the jewellery was be held in police custody until Sept 16.
stored in the bank locker at the time
rules for compulsory registration of "We have got the former cashier in 9
marriage, there cannot be a rule de- of the loan closure, my client didnt days of police custody. We will question
claring marriage invalid for want of retrieve it immediately," he said. him to get further leads into the case,"
registration," the court added. Upon returning in 2024, the woman vis- said a senior official of Kolkata police.

BANKING FINANCE | OCTOBER | 2025 | 15