ST Status No Bar to Divorce Without Custom

Source: Rajasthan High Court

Why in News?

A Division Bench of the Rajasthan High Court, comprising Justice Sudesh Bansal and Justice Anil Kumar Upman, in X v. Y (2026), dismissed a wife's appeal challenging the Family Court's refusal to reject her husband's divorce petition under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.  

• The Court held that membership of a Scheduled Tribe does not automatically exclude the application of the Hindu Marriage Act unless a distinct tribal custom governing marriage and its dissolution is specifically and clearly pleaded.

What was the Background of X v. Y (2026) Case? 

• The husband filed a divorce petition under Section 13(1)(a) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, before the Family Court.  
• The wife filed an application under Order 7 Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, seeking rejection of the petition at the threshold on the ground that both parties belonged to the Meena community, a Scheduled Tribe, and that the Hindu Marriage Act was therefore not applicable to them by virtue of Section 2(2) of the Act. 
• The Family Court rejected the wife's application, finding it insufficiently pleaded. Aggrieved, the wife preferred an appeal before the Division Bench of the Rajasthan High Court.  
• Notably, the wife had herself earlier filed a petition under Section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act seeking restitution of conjugal rights, and had admitted in her pleadings that the marriage was solemnized as per Hindu rites and ceremonies.

What were the Court's Observations? 

• On Pleading of Custom: The Division Bench held that the wife's application was ambiguous and vague. While she claimed the marriage was solemnized as per the customs of the Meena community, she failed to specify what those customs were, how they differed from the Hindu rites and ceremonies prescribed under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, or whether the ceremonies followed were in any manner distinct from those performed by Hindus generally. A bare assertion of tribal identity, without more, cannot satisfy the threshold of pleading under Section 2(2) of the Act. 
• On Conduct of the Wife: The Court noted that the wife had herself admitted the marriage was solemnized as per Hindu rites and ceremonies and had invoked the Hindu Marriage Act by filing a petition for restitution of conjugal rights under Section 9 thereof. This conduct was treated as a significant acknowledgment of the Act's applicability and was found inconsistent with her subsequent attempt to exclude the Act's jurisdiction for the purposes of the husband's divorce petition. 
• On Section 2(2) of the Hindu Marriage Act: The Court reiterated that Section 2(2) carves out an exception only where a notification has been issued by the State Government or where a specific and proven custom excludes the Act's applicability. The mere status of belonging to a Scheduled Tribe, without establishing such a custom in the pleadings, does not attract the exception and cannot oust the jurisdiction of the Family Court to entertain a petition filed under the Hindu Marriage Act.

What is Section 2 of HMA? 

Section 2 — Application of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955: 

Section 2(1) — Who the Act Applies To: 

The Act applies to three broad categories of persons: 

• Hindus by religion in any form or development, expressly including Virashaivas, Lingayats, and followers of the Brahmo, Prarthana, or Arya Samaj movements. 
• Buddhists, Jainas, and Sikhs by religion. 
• Any other person domiciled in the applicable territories who is not a Muslim, Christian, Parsi, or Jew — unless it is proved that such a person would not have been governed by Hindu law or custom even before the Act was passed. 

Explanation — Who Qualifies as Hindu, Buddhist, Jaina, or Sikh: 

• A child (legitimate or illegitimate) both of whose parents belong to any of these religions. 
• A child (legitimate or illegitimate) one of whose parents belongs to any of these religions, provided the child is raised as a member of that parent's community or family. 
• Any person who converts or reconverts to the Hindu, Buddhist, Jaina, or Sikh religion.

Section 2(2) — Exception for Scheduled Tribes: 

• Notwithstanding the broad applicability under Section 2(1), the Act does not automatically apply to members of any Scheduled Tribe as defined under Article 366(25) of the Constitution.  
• This exclusion holds unless the Central Government issues a specific notification in the Official Gazette directing otherwise.