Divorce

Divorce is the judicial termination of a Marriage. In a country where marriage is sacred, judicial separation is gaining grounds. With the development in culture, education, human rights and exposure to the outside world, more Indian women use divorce as a mechanism to break free from the clutches of marriage. When compared to the western counterparts divorce rate is significantly low in India. Though it is told that Software professionals in India resort to divorce more than other professionals. As in typical India scenario there is no data available to justify this claim from divorce lawyers. My visits to family courts have been affirmative to this claim. Also I have heard stories of men being tortured mentally and physically by women. Still it is very rare.
Mostly people below 35 years of age resort to divorce. In India most men and women try their best to live together and take divorce as a final call. In many cases, women were forced to live with the unbearable husband because the families want the marriage to survive. To top it up, most Indian women don’t have a job to support themselves or their husband’s family may want them to do the domestic chores though she may be highly qualified.
Divorce in India is a long legal procedure, whose period of prosecution takes at least six months. The divorce procedure varies from the marriage acts of one personal law to another. All Hindus including Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains can seek divorce under Hindu Marriage Act. Whereas communities like Parsi, Christians, Muslims, have their own laws related to divorce. For example, Christians divorce laws are regulated by the Indian Divorce Act, 1869, and that of a Parsi by Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936. Inter community marriages are governed by Special Marriage Act, 1956.
A divorce can be mutually agreeing or based on the grounds for divorce. NRIs have different procedures.
The following are the grounds for divorce in India mentioned under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
Adultery,Cruelty, Desertion,Conversion, Mental Disorder, Leprosy
Venereal Disease – If one of the spouses is suffering from a serious disease that is easily communicable, a divorce can be filed by the other spouse. The sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS are accounted to be venereal diseases.
Renunciation – A spouse is entitled to file for a divorce if the other renounces all worldly affairs by embracing a religious order.
Not Heard Alive – If a person is not seen or heard alive by those who are expected to be ‘naturally heard’ of the person for a continuous period of seven years, the person is presumed to be dead. The other spouse should need to file a divorce if he/she is interested in remarriage.
No Resumption of Co-habitation – It becomes a ground for divorce if the couple fails to resume their co-habitation after the court has passed a decree of separation.
The following are the grounds for divorce in India on which a petition can be filed only by the wife.
• If the husband has indulged in rape, bestiality and sodomy.
• If the marriage is solemnized before the Hindu Marriage Act and the husband has again married another woman in spite of the first wife being alive, the first wife can seek for a divorce.
• A girl is entitled to file for a divorce if she was married before the age of fifteen and renounces the marriage before she attains eighteen years of age.
• If there is no co-habitation for one year and the husband neglects the judgment of maintenance awarded to the wife by the court, the wife can contest for a divorce.

In similar lines, Indian Divorce Act, 1869, Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936 and the amendment of the same in 1988 have ground rules required for divorce.
Recently the High court of Bombay has held that the six-month cooling-off period for a couple who file a joint petition for divorce cannot be insisted on by the family court if the couple has already been living separately for a year and their contested divorce plea has been pending in court for over six months. “Parties who settle their dispute are not required to be penalised for doing so,’’ said Justice Roshan Dalvi.
Sikhs have been demanding a separate Act for registration of marriages solemnised under Sikh traditions. At present, Sikh marriages are registered either under the Hindu Marriage Act or the Special Marriage Act. Sikhs contend that their marriage rituals are different from that of Hindus.
At present, Sikhs are governed by the Anand Marriage Act of 1909 which the draft bill seeks to replace. The demand for a separate marriage Act stems from the need to register marriages solemnised under their religious ceremony Anand Karaj.
The Cabinet on Thursday cleared amendments to the Hindu Marriage Act and the Special Marriage Act, allowing the provision of "irretrievable breakdown of marriage'' to be included as ground for divorce. This new ground may help thousands of pending or prolonged divorces a sigh of relief. Religious fanatics may claim divorce as an evil spreading in the society but considering that marriage in essence is a contract between two individuals of sound mind and capable of reason, termination of marriage is well within the ambit of the sacred solemn vow!
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