80 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
(31)
CHAPTER III
General provisions relating to annulment of marriage
30. No marriage to be annulled except by order of court. — Notwithstanding anything contained in this Part, no marriage solemnized, whether before or after the commencement of this Code, shall be deemed to have been lawfully annulled except by a decree of a competent court passed in that behalf.
(32)
30A. Modes of annulment of marriage. —A marriage may be annulled by a decree of nullity, if it is void for any of the reasons set out in section 31, or by a decree of dissolution, if it is voidable for any of the reasons set out in section 32, or by a decree of divorce for any of the reasons set out in section 33, as the case may be.
Nullity of Marriages
31. Grounds for a decree of nullity. — (1) Any marriage solemnized before the commencement of this Code may be annulled by a decree of nullity—
(a) if by reason of the provisions of any law in force at the time of the marriage such marriage was invalid on the ground that either party had a spouse living at the time of the marriage or
(b) if the parties at the time of the marriage were within the degrees of prohibited relationship as defined by clause (c) of section 5 :
Provided that no such marriage shall be annulled under the provisions of clause (b) of this sub-section if it was valid under the provisions of any law in force at the time of the marriage.
(2) Any marriage solemnized after the commencement of this Code may be annulled by a decree of nullity—
(a) if, purporting to be a Dharmik marriage, it contravenes any of the conditions specified in clauses (i), (iv) and (v) of section 7.
(b) if, purporting to be a civil marriage, it contravenes any of the conditions specified in clauses (i) and (iv) of section 8:
Provided that nothing contained in this section shall apply to any case falling within the prohibition contained in clause (v) of section 7, if, before the institution of any proceeding for the annulment of marriage, the marriage is registered as a civil marriage under section