In Brief
Swapnanjali married Sandeep under the Special Marriage Act in 2010, believing him to be a bachelor. She later discovered he had a subsisting first marriage from 2007. The lower courts dismissed her nullity petition as barred by limitation, relying on Section 25 of the Act. The Supreme Court held that under Section 24 read with Section 4 of the Act, a marriage is void ab initio if either party had a living spouse at the time of marriage. Such void marriages can be declared null at any time without limitation. The respondent's unproven claim of customary divorce could not defend the bigamy. The Court set aside both lower orders and decreed nullity of the marriage.
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