• Breaking engagement

My brother engaged on 15 April 2017.now he is telling not to marry and telling he was agreed To marry due To family pressure & also telling girl is not looking good. Can any one can tell what is legal consequences of breaking engagement & how to break engagement & what reason to give so that there will be no problem .
Asked 7 years ago in Family Law
Religion: Hindu

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6 Answers

1) inform the girl family that boy is refusing to marry and that marriage is called off

2) offer to bear the expenses incurred by girl family for the engagement

3) in the vent girl family files false case of dowry harassment obtain anticipatory bail from sessions court

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
96748 Answers
7804 Consultations

1.Breaking marriage engagement is not a crime in itself.

2.no legal right accrues to either party out of marriage engagement.

3.however if the engagement is broken due to non fulfillment of dowry demand or on cancellation of marriage the gifts are not returned then it is a crime.

4. So sit together and exchange your gifts and defray their costs. No case will lie then.

Devajyoti Barman
Advocate, Kolkata
23187 Answers
510 Consultations

Dear Querist

It will be better to settled the matter amicably and closed the matter.

if you want to take any legal action then you may issue a legal notice to him/her and return all the gifts if received by you and claim your gifts from opposite party.

if she wants to take legal action against your brother and family then she may file a criminal complaint against them Under Dowry prohibition Act-1961 and can alleged that due to dowry demand this engagement is going to break from your side now.

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Nadeem Qureshi
Advocate, New Delhi
6307 Answers
302 Consultations

If your brother is not interested in proceeding with the proposed marriage, he can very well break this engagement and cancel the proposal for marriage either by oral or by a communication in writing .

He may state some reason for this decision and in case he apprehends some problem, he may indicate that he would be inclined to compensate the expenses to some extent, which would pave way for an amicable settlement of this issue.

Try to pacify the bride's father to extent possible, if he is not convinced then send the communication by registered post, keep the acknowledgment card safely so that it can help tide over the legal issues at a later stage if her father decides to take up the issue legally on some false grounds.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
86950 Answers
2334 Consultations

1. breaking of betrothal or engagement is just like a breaking of agreement, until marriage is solemnize betrothal cannot confer legal capacity on the parties so any party can break this agreement.

2. The person breaks this engagement opposite party can claim special damages under specific relief act for the compensation for expenses incurred by him in engagement.

3. if there is no dowry demand then no criminal case can be filed.

Shivendra Pratap Singh
Advocate, Lucknow
5127 Answers
78 Consultations

1. Engagement does not bind one to marry the person to whom he/she is engaged. It can be broken due to change in circumstances.

2. If the consent to get engaged was given under coercion then the consent itself is vitiated.

3. Serve a lawyer's notice to the girl to intimate her about calling off the marriage.

Ashish Davessar
Advocate, Jaipur
30763 Answers
972 Consultations

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