Grounds for divorce in India under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

Grounds for divorce in India under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

Any marriage solemnised, may, on a petition presented by either the husband or the wife, be dissolved by a decree of divorce on the ground that the other party—

(1a) has, after the solemnisation of the marriage, had voluntary sexual intercourse with any person other than his or her spouse;

or

(1b) has, after the solemnisation of the marriage, treated the petitioner with cruelty;

or

[(1c) has deserted the petitioner for a continuous period of not less than two years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition;       [ Explanation. —In this sub-section, the expression “desertion” means the desertion of the petitioner by the other party to the marriage without reasonable cause and without the consent or against the wish of such party, and includes the wilful neglect of the petitioner by the other party to the marriage, and its grammatical variations and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly.]

or

(2) has ceased to be a Hindu by conversion to another religion;

or

(3) has been incurably of unsound mind, or has been suffering continuously or intermittently from mental disorder of such a kind and to such an extent that the petitioner cannot reasonably be expected to live with the respondent.

Explanation .—In this clause,—

(a) the expression “mental disorder” means mental illness, arrested or incomplete development of mind, psychopathic disorder or any other disorder or disability of mind and includes schizophrenia;

(b) the expression “psychopathic disorder” means a persistent disorder or disability of mind (whether or not including sub-normality of intelligence) which results in abnormally aggressive or seriously irresponsible conduct on the part of the other party, and whether or not it requires or is susceptible to medical treatment;

or

(4) has  been suffering from a virulent and incurable form of leprosy;

or

(5) has been suffering from venereal disease in a communicable form;

or

(6) has renounced the world by entering any religious order;

or

(7) has not been heard of as being alive for a period of seven years or more by those persons who would naturally have heard of it, had that party been alive;

or

(8) Either party to a marriage, may also present a petition for the dissolution of the marriage by a decree of divorce on the ground—

(i) that there has been no resumption of cohabitation as between the parties to the marriage for a period of [one year] or upwards after the passing of a decree for judicial separation in a proceeding to which they were parties; or

(ii) that there has been no restitution of conjugal rights as between the parties to the marriage for a period of [one year] or upwards after the passing of a decree for restitution of conjugal rights in a proceeding to which they were parties.

Following are the additional grounds which are available to wife only

A wife may also present a petition for the dissolution of her marriage by a decree of divorce on the ground,—

(i) in the case of any marriage solemnised before the commencement of this Act ie Hindu Marriage Act, that the husband had married again before such commencement or that any other wife of the husband married before such commencement was alive at the time of the solemnisation of the marriage of the petitioner:

Provided that in either case the other wife is alive at the time of the presentation of the petition;

or

(ii) that the husband has, since the solemnisation of the marriage, been guilty of rape, sodomy or[bestiality;

or

(iii) that in a suit under section 18 of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 (78 of 1956), or in a proceeding under section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974) [or under the corresponding section 488 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (5 of 1898)], a decree or order, as the case may be, has been passed against the husband awarding maintenance to the wife notwithstanding that she was living apart and that since the passing of such decree or order, cohabitation between the parties has not been resumed for one year or upwards;

or

(iv) that her marriage (whether consummated or not) was solemnised before she attained the age of fifteen years and she has repudiated the marriage after attaining that age but before attaining the age of eighteen years.]

Explanation. —This clause applies whether the marriage was solemnised before or after the commencement of the Marriage Laws (Amendment) Act, 1976

Registration of Documents

The Registration of documents is very important because of their admissibility as evidence in case of any legal dispute regarding the claim of any benefit or any right, arising from the said document.

Section 17 of The Indian Registration Act, 1908 requires compulsory registration of the following types of documents:

(i) Instruments of gift of immovable property;

(ii) Instruments other than non-testamentary instruments which purport or operate to create, declare, assign, limit or extinguish, whether in the present or in future, any right, title or interest, whether vested or contingent to or in immovable property;

(iii) non-testamentary instruments which acknowledge the receipt or payment of any consideration on account of the creation, declaration, assignment, limitation or extinction of any such right, title or interest; and

(iv) leases of immovable property from year to year, or for any term exceeding one year, or reserving a yearly rent;

(v) non-testamentary instruments transferring or assigning any decree or order of a Court or any award when such decree or order or award purports or operates to create, declare, assign, limit or extinguish, whether in the present or in future, any right, title or interest, whether vested or contingent, to or in immovable property:

(vi) Authorities to adopt a son not conferred by a will, is also to be registered.

Section 18 of the Registration Act makes the registration of the following documents optional:

(i) instruments (other than instruments of gift and wills) which purport or operate to create, declare, assign, limit or extinguish, whether in the present or in future, any right, title or interest, whether vested or contingent, of a value less than one hundred rupees, to or in immovable property;

(ii) instruments acknowledging the receipt or payment of any consideration on account of the creation, declaration, assignment, limitation or extinction of any such right, title or interest;

(iii) leases of immovable property for any term not exceeding one year,;

(iv) instruments transferring or assigning any decree or order of a Court or any award when such decree or order or award purports or operates to create, declare, assign, limit or extinguish, whether in the present or in future, any right, title or interest, whether vested or contingent, of a value less than one hundred rupees, to or in immovable property ;]

(v) instruments (other than wills) which purport or operate to create, declare, assign, limit or extinguish any right, title or interest to or in movable property;

(vi) wills; and

(vii) all other documents not required by section 17 to be registered.

Can Person Remarry By Changing Religion To Islam?.

        It is said that love is blind, but Law is not blind in case of love and marriage. The Supreme Court of India in the case of Lily Thomas, Etc vs Union Of India & Ors. on 5 April, 2000 held that, husband cannot marry a second time simply by converting to Islam. To marry a second time, person has to lawfully dissolved his first marriage. If husband marry a second time without lawfully dissolving the first marriage he would be guilty of Bigamy.

Bigamy is the crime of marrying a person when one is still lawfully married to another person or marriage is not lawfully dissolved with another person. In bigamy, person intentionally contracts or purports to contract a marriage with another person when he is still lawfully married to another person or marriage is not lawfully dissolved with another person. Bigamous marriages are void and unlawful. Criminal charges can be filed against the bigamist person. Embracing Islam religion does not dissolve the first marriage. Thus person cannot marry second time simply because he has converted to Islam religion. Islam religion does not dissolved the first marriage solemnized according to one personal religion. Second marriage without dissolving first marriage would be Void and person would be held liable for bigamy.