India, Aug. 23 -- Deliberately misrepresenting marital status on a matrimonial website is a valid ground for annulment of marriage, the Delhi High Court has ruled, observing that such suppression undermines the foundation of marriage and strikes at the core of free and informed consent.

A division bench of justices Anil Kshetarpal and Harish Vaidyanthan Shankar delivered the ruling on August 20, while hearing a man's appeal against a January 2024 order of a family court that annulled his marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act (HMA).

Under Section 12(1)(c) of HMA, a husband or wife can seek annulment if consent for marriage was obtained by fraud, whether related to the nature of the ceremony or a material fact or circumstance.

The trial ...