Dear Sir,
Yes, India law does provide for Annulment as an option. Annulment is a legal procedure for undoing a marriage by declaring it null and void. The main difference between annulment and divorce is that an annulment says that the marriage never really happened.
Conditions for Annulment
A marriage is considered to be a void marriage:
- If either you or your spouse was married to another person at the time of getting married to you
- If you or your spouse was suffering from a serious mental illness
- If you or your spouse was below the minimum age (18 for women and 21 for men)
- If your spouse was a close relative (within the prohibited degrees of relationship)
- If either you or your spouse is impotent at the time of marriage and when the case is presented to the Court
- If either you or your spouse refuses to complete the union of a marriage by the first marital sexual intercourse (consummate the marriage)
- If one of the spouses was at the time of the marriage pregnant by some other person other than the spouse. In these cases, the Court has to make sure that the allegations are true
- If the consent of either of the spouses to the marriage were obtained by fraud or coercion
Non consummation of marriage entitles you to get divorce. Supreme Court Says, "Spouses owe rights and duties to each other and in their relationship they must act reasonably."
A petition for divorce under Section 13 (1)(1-a) and (iii) of the HMA on the ground of cruelty as well mental disorder can be filed by you.
The Court observed, “Undoubtedly, not allowing a spouse for a long time, to have sexual intercourse by his or her partner, without sufficient reason, itself amounts mental cruelty to such spouse. A Bench of Three Judges of this Court in Samar Ghosh Vs. Jaya Ghosh (2007) 4 SCC 511 has enumerated some of the illustrations of mental cruelty.”...