A marriage may be solemnized between any two Hindus, if the following conditions are fulfilled, namely:—
(i) neither party has a spouse living at the time of the marriage;
(ii) at the time of the marriage, neither party—
(a) is incapable of giving a valid consent to it in consequence of unsoundness of mind; or
(b) though capable of giving a valid consent, has been suffering from mental disorder of such a kind or to such an extent as to be unfit for marriage and the procreation of children; or
(c) has been subject to recurrent attacks of insanity;
(iii) the bridegroom has completed the age of twenty-one years and the bride, the age of eighteen years at the time of the marriage;
(iv) the parties are not within the degrees of prohibited relationship unless the custom or usage governing each of them permits of a marriage between the two;
(v) the parties are not sapindas of each other, unless the custom or usage governing each of them permits of a marriage between the two.
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 5
Section 5 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 establishes the essential statutory conditions for solemnizing a valid Hindu marriage, enacting mandatory requirements of monogamy, mental capacity, statutory age of marriage, and degrees of prohibited and sapinda relationships.
In matrimonial proceedings, challenge the validity of a marriage violating Section 5(i) by filing a petition for nullity under Section 11; children of such marriages remain legitimate under Section 16 and retain inheritance rights.