Divorce in India remains an extremely sensitive subject. But one shouldn’t delay seeking justice after a divorce that failed. Find out the causes of divorce that allow the divorce process to be sought from India in accordance with the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
As per this Act, divorce maintenance was originally based on the fault theory and enshrined nine fault grounds in Section 13 (1) on which either the husband or wife could sue for divorce, and Two faults under section 13 (2) in which the only the wife can seek divorce on her own.
In 1964, by amending the law, Section 13 (1) provisions were modified to form Section 13 (1A), which recognized two grounds to break up the marriage. A 1976 Amendment Act inserted two additional fault grounds for divorce in the case of the wife and added a newly created section 13 (B) for divorce with mutual consent.
The different grounds for which divorce decrees are possible to obtain are listed below.-
- Adultery:
While adultery has not been declared a criminal offense in every country under this Act the act of adultery is a legal basis for divorce.
In adultery, there is to be consensual or voluntary sexual relations between a married couple and a person who is not married, and of the opposite gender who is not the spouse of the other at the time that is the duration of the marriage. Since adultery is an offense to marriage it’s important to establish the time that the crime was committed when the marriage was still in existence.
It follows that in the event that one does not consent to the conduct and consents to the act, there is no legal defense against adultery.
- Cruelty: The notion of cruelty is an evolving concept. The contemporary definition of cruelty covers physical and mental violence. The acts of cruelty are behavioral manifestations that are triggered by various elements in the lives of spouses, as well as their environment. Consequently, every case must be determined on the basis of the facts of each case.
While physical violence is simple to spot however, mental cruelty refers to the lack of love and affection for the spouse which causes the suffering to such an extent and length that it negatively affects the mental or physical reaction of the partner, the victim.
The instances of cruelty are as follows:
- False accusations of adultery or unchastity
- Demand for dowry
- Refusal to have marital intercourse/children
- Impotency
- Drunkenness
- A threat to commit suicide
- Wife writing false complaints to the employer of the husband
- Incompatibility of temperament
- Irretrievable breakdown of a marriage
Desertion: The word “desertion” refers to the denial by one person of all obligations arising from marriage- the complete abandonment or the abandonment of one partner by another, without any valid reason and without permission by the opposing spouse. It’s a total rejection of the marital obligation.
The following 5 conditions must be present to constitute desertion. They must coexist to present a ground for divorce:
1. The factum of separation
2. Intention to desert
3. Desertion without any reasonable cause
4. Desertion without the consent of another party
5. The statutory period of two years must have run out before a petition is presented
- Conversion: If the other party has stopped being a Hindu due to a change of other religion, e.g. Islam, Christianity, Judaism Zoroastrianism and so on, the divorce procedure may be approved.
- Insanity: Ground for divorce has the following two requirements:
1. The person in question has been found to be incurable for unsound minds.
2. The petitioner has suffered in constant or intermittent ways from mental illness of this type and to that the petitioner can’t reasonably be expected to reside with the respondent. - Venereal Disease: It is currently an excuse for divorce if it is communicable in nature regardless of the duration that the petitioner was suffering. It’s not required to have been made known by the person who filed (even it was done in a manner that is innocent)
- Wife’s Special Grounds for Divorce:
Apart from the above-mentioned grounds a wife has also been given four additional grounds for divorce under section 7 in this Act. These are as follows:
1. Pre-Act Polygamous marriage This clause lays out the grounds for divorce being that the husband has a second wife who is present at the time the ceremony to marry the person who is petitioning’.
2. Rape, Sodomy or Bestiality – In this case, the divorce petition may be filed when the husband has, since the wedding sacrament been found guilty of rape, sodomy, or bestiality.
3. Non-Resumption of Cohabitation after a Decree/Order of Maintenance – If a wife obtained an order for maintenance under proceedings under Section 125 of the Cr.P.C. 1973 or a court order in accordance with Section 18 of which is the Hindu Adoption & Maintenance Act 1956 and cohabitation hasn’t been restored within one year or more, it is a valid basis for filing a divorce suit.
4. Repudiation of Marriage – This provision offers grounds for divorce for the wife if the marriage was not legally sworn before she reached 15 years of age and she has renounced the marriage before turning 18. The repudiation can be stated (written or verbally) or it could be implied by the behavior of the wife who has left her husband and decided not to return. Additionally the right (added through Amendments to the Constitution of 1976) Amendment) is only applicable to retroactive effect i.e. it is valid regardless of whether the marriage was formally sworn before or following the modification.
