SATHISH NINAN, J.

1. An Original Petition seeking annulment of a marriage by a decree of nullity, under Section 25(1) of the Special Marriage Act (for short “the Act”), was dismissed by the Family Court as not entertainable, since one year has not elapsed from the date of marriage.

2. The parties are Indian Christians. Their marriage was solemnized on 28.06.2017 under the provisions of the Act. At the time of marriage the petitioner and the respondent were aged 20 and 25 years, respectively. The marriage was without the consent of their parents. After marriage they continued to reside in their respective parental houses. The parents did not approve their alliance. The respondent abstained from having relationship with the petitioner-appellant and there was willful refusal to consummate the marriage. Accordingly the Original Petition was filed to annul the marriage. The respondent entered appearance and filed an affidavit accepting the averments in the Original Petition.

3. The Family Court, relying on Section 29 of the Act, dismissed the petition holding that, since the petition is filed within one year from the date of marriage, the petition is not maintainable. We are unable to agree with the court below.

4. Section 29 of the Act reads thus:

“29. Restriction on petition for divorce during first one year after marriage.-(1) No petition for divorce shall be presented to the District Court unless at the date of the presentation of the petition one year has passed since the date of entering the certificate of marriage in the Marriage Certificate Book.

PROVIDED THAT the District Court may, upon application being made to it allow a petition to be presented before one year has passed on the ground that the case is one of exceptional hardship suffered by the petitioner or of exceptional depravity on the part of the respondent, but if it appears to the District Court at the hearing of the petition that the petitioner obtained leave to present the petition by any misrepresentation or concealment of the nature of the case, the District Court may, if it pronounces a decree, do so subject to the condition that the decree shall not have effect until after the expiry of one year from the date of the marriage or may dismiss the petition without prejudice to any petition which may be brought after the expiration of the said one year upon the same or substantially the same fact, as those proved in support of the petition so dismissed.”

As is evident from a plain reading of the Section, the restriction of one year period applies only to the institution of a proceeding seeking divorce. There is an ocean of difference between a petition seeking divorce and a petition seeking annulment of a marriage by a decree of nullity under Section 25 of the Act. Section 25 of the Act reads thus:

“25. Voidable marriage.-Any marriage solemnized under this Act shall be voidable and may be annulled by a decree of nullity if-

(i) the marriage has not been consummated owing to the willful refusal of the respondent to consummate the marriage;

(ii) the respondent was at the time of the marriage pregnant by some person other than the petitioner;

(iii) the consent of either party to the marriage was obtained by coercion or fraud, as defined in the Indian Contract Act, 1872 (IX of 1872).

Provided that, in the case specified in clause (ii), the court shall not grant a decree unless it is satisfied:-

(a) that the petitioner was at the time of marriage ignorant of the facts alleged;

(b) that proceedings were instituted within a year from the date of the marriage;

(c) that marital intercourse with the consent of the petitioner has not taken place since the discovery of the petitioner of the existence of the grounds for a decree:

Provided further that in the case specified in clause (iii), the court shall not grant a decree if:-

(a) proceedings have not been instituted within one year after the coercion had ceased or, as the case may be, the fraud had been discovered;

(b) the petit