History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c96.s2.33.3

v7.c96.s2.33.3

vide Hindu Marriage Act 25 of 1955, Section 4, Hindu Succession Act 30 of 1956, Section 4 (1) The Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act (78 of 1956) prescribes that the person to be adopted must not be more than 15 years of age (section 10 item IV) and that there should be a difference of 21 years between a male adopter and a female adoptee and between a female adopter and a male adoptee (sec. 11 items iii and iv). But the provision in Sec. 10 is made subject to a custom to the contrary. It passes one's understanding why custom was allowed to prevail over the law in this case. The Hindu Marriage Act, 25 of 1955, has made sweeping changes of which the vast majority of Hindus are blissfully ignorant. Before the Act a Hindu could in theory (and rarely in practice) have two or more wives living at the same time and even an *anuloma* marriage (i. e. the marriage of a male of a higher *varṇa* with a woman born in a lower *varṇa*) was held to be invalid by some High Courts in India such as those of Allahabad and Madras Now under the present Hindu Marriage Act of 1955 the marriage is a monogamous marriage (section 5) and a person belonging to any caste may marry a woman of any caste how highsoever or lowsoever she may be by caste; and further marriages between spouses belonging to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist or Jaina religions are now declared valid.