Section 12(1)(a) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. Said section reads
as under :
“12. Voidable marriages. – (1) Any marriage solemnized,
whether before or after the commencement of this Act, shall be
voidable and may be annulled by a decree of nullity on any of the
following grounds, namely:-
(a) that the marriage has not been consummated owing to the
impotence of the respondent; or
(b) …...
(c) …...
(d) …...”
2) In the case of V. v. S. (supra), the Division Bench of this
Court has observed on the aspect of impotency and sterility by quoting
the passage from Modi’s Textbook on Medical Jurisprudence and
Toxicology, Twenty-first Edition. The said observations are as under :
"Impotence is defined as physical incapacity of
accomplishing the sexual act, while sterility means inability
for procreation of children. Impotence in males is the
persistent inability to develop or maintain a penile creation
sufficient to conclude coitus to orgasm and ejaculation. It
should be remembered that the term impotence or sexual
incapacity in forensic medicine connotes physical incapacity
to accomplish the sex act.
Impotence has been described in Halsbury's Laws of England
to be such a state of mental or physical condition which
makes consummation of the marriage a practical
impossibility.
An impotent individual need not necessarily be sterile, nor a
sterile individual impotent, though both conditions may
sometimes be combined in the same individual."
3) While dealing with cases of impotency the predominant
consideration is not physical incapacity which courts are
often guided by, but another all important angle, namely, the
fact that non consummation of marriage, could be due to
several circumstances which contribute to a situation
whereby both the spouses, though physically and mentally
potent in the normal sense, find it impossible to achieve a
satisfactory sexual relationship. The concept of relative
impotency which prescribes that a person suffering from no
handicap whatever still feels inhibited or incompetent visavis
the particular sexual partner is now an accepted ground
for a decree in a matrimonial Court.”