Hindu Marriage Act, 1955

India's Hindu Marriage Act, passed by Parliament on May 18, 1955, codified and reformed the law of marriage for Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs, along with others not governed by Muslim, Christian, Parsi, or Jewish personal law. It set uniform conditions for a valid marriage, introduced judicial divorce and separation, including divorce by mutual consent, into a tradition that had not previously recognized it, and provided for spousal maintenance and marriage registration. It was one of the Hindu Code Bills, alongside the Hindu Succession Act and the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, that reshaped personal law in India after independence, and it faced significant religious opposition at the time over its introduction of divorce and equal inheritance rights for daughters.