“I curse the day I married you”. “How I wish I could turn back time”.
Does this ring a bell? Do you often think of these words, or wish you could blurt it out to your partner?Fret Not… Divorce in today’s time is synonymous with the term Marriage.The Hindu Marriage Act 1955 governs the union of man and woman in India. All Hindus by birth or religion, including Jain, Sikhs & Buddhists are covered under the said act.
What happens when you choose to end the marriage? Our hon’ble Supreme Court in exercising the power under article 142 of Constitution of India has held that where the marriage is dead and there is no chance of it being retrieved, it is better to bring it to an end.
Grounds of Divorce in our country under section 13(1) are adultery, cruelty, desertion, conversion, unsoundness of mind, schizophrenia, virulent and incurable leprosy, entering new religious order, presumption of death, non- compliance with a decree of judicial separation and non-compliance with a decree of Restitution of Conjugal Rights.
Restitution of Conjugal Rights under section 9 of the said act embodies the concept of RCR. After solemnization of marriage if one of the spouses abandons the other, the aggrieved party has a legal right to file a petition in the matrimonial court for RCR.
Section 13(2) also gives power to the wife to file for divorce if the husband already has a living wife prior to the solemnization of this marriage and at the time of filing of the divorce petition.The wife can also file for dissolution of marriage if the husband is guilty of rape, sodomy, bestiality.
Section 13B talks about the divorce proceedings under the concept of mutual consent. The petition for divorce by Mutual Consent must be presented to the court jointly by both the parties and not by one party. It is however, not necessary that the parties must be living in different places. Living apart would mean, not living as husband and wife. The averments and facts of the case must be such, that the court would be satisfied that it was impossible for the parties to live together as husband and wife.
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