HINDU MARRIAGE ACT 1955

Under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, divorce can be sought on several specific grounds. These are primarily categorized into fault-based grounds available to either spouse, specific grounds available only to the wife, and no-fault grounds such as mutual consent.

1. General Grounds Available to Both Spouses

According to Section 13(1), either the husband or the wife may file for divorce based on the following:

• Adultery: If the other party has had voluntary sexual intercourse with any person other than his or her spouse after the solemnization of the marriage.
• Cruelty: If the other party has treated the petitioner with cruelty. This can include both physical and mental cruelty.
• Desertion: If the other party has deserted the petitioner for a continuous period of at least two years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition. Desertion includes "willful neglect" without reasonable cause.
• Conversion: If the other party has ceased to be a Hindu by converting to another religion (such as Islam, Christianity, etc.).
• Insanity (Unsound Mind): If the other party has been incurably of unsound mind or has been suffering continuously or intermittently from a mental disorder of such a kind that the petitioner cannot reasonably be expected to live with them. This includes conditions like schizophrenia.
• Venereal Disease: If the other party is suffering from a venereal disease in a communicable form.
• Renunciation of the World: If the other party has renounced the world by entering a religious order.
• Presumption of Death: If the other party has not been heard of as being alive for a period of seven years or more by those who would naturally have heard of them.

2. Grounds Available Only to the Wife

Under Section 13(2), a wife has additional specific grounds for seeking divorce:

• Bigamy: If the husband had another wife living at the time of the petitioner's marriage or had married again before the commencement of the Act.
• Sexual Offenses: If the husband has been guilty of rape, sodomy, or bestiality since the marriage was solemnized.
• Non-Resumption of Cohabitation after Maintenance Decree: If a decree or order of maintenance was passed against the husband (under Section 18 of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act or Section 125 of the CrPC) and cohabitation has not been resumed for one year or more since the order.
• Repudiation of Marriage: If the marriage was solemnized before she attained the age of fifteen years and she repudiated the marriage after turning fifteen but before turning eighteen.

3. Divorce Based on Non-Compliance with Decrees

Under Section 13(1A), either party can apply for divorce if:

• There has been no resumption of cohabitation for a period of one year or more after the passing of a decree for judicial separation.
• There has been no restitution of conjugal rights for a period of one year or more after a decree for restitution of conjugal rights was passed.

4. Divorce by Mutual Consent

Under Section 13B, both parties may jointly petition for divorce on the grounds that:

• They have been living separately for at least one year.
• They have been unable to live together.
• They have mutually agreed that the marriage should be dissolved.

Important Notes

• Leprosy: Previously a ground for divorce, leprosy was removed as a valid ground by the Personal Law (Amendment) Act, 2019.
• Customary Divorce: The Act does not affect any right recognized by custom or special enactment to obtain the dissolution of a Hindu marriage.
• Time Limit: Generally, no petition for divorce can be presented within one year of the marriage, except in cases of exceptional hardship to the petitioner or exceptional depravity on the part of the respondent.