The Hindu Marriage Act defines divorce as the dissolution of the marriage. For the interest of society, the marriage or the marital relationship needs to be surrounded by every safeguard for the cause specified by law.

Grounds Of Divorce Under Hindu Law

Divorce among Hindus was not recognized until the Hindu marriage Act, 1955. Manu says that a marriage can end only with the death of one of the spouses. Any divorce taken otherwise was not only frowned upon but deeply stigmatized and prejudiced. Divorce was considered as a sin. British India only had the Divorce Act, 1869 which provided for the divorce procedure in India for people professing the religion of Christianity. Other than that there was no enactment for the divorce process in India. It was only in 1955 that parliament passed the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 and provision related to the concept of divorce was introduced in the act. Divorce, the said term has not been defined in the act but it simply means, dissolution of marriage. Various grounds of divorce are mentioned under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act.

Theories of Divorce

• Mutual Consent If both the spouses decide to end the marriage, they can file for divorce in the court of law.
• Fault Theory When one spouse ends the marriage due to the fault of the other spouse and takes such ground for divorce, it is called as fault theory of divorce. The drawback of this theory is that no one can take this remedy if both the spouses are at fault.
• Irretrievable Breakdown The aggrieved spouse can take the divorce as the last resort if the matrimonial relationship cannot be repaired anymore.

Valid Grounds For Divorce

People often think that getting divorce or separation from their spouse is an easy task. Such people are totally unaware of the effort which divorce advocates need to put to convince the courts in divorce cases. It may be a cake walk if parties are mutually seeking divorce or judicial separation. However, for contested cases where one spouse wants to end the relation and the other wishes to continue, things turn troublesome. Given below are the grounds of judicial separation under Hindu law which also turn out to be divorce grounds:

Adultery Adultery means voluntary sexual intercourse beyond the capacity of the lawful wedlock. It has been added as a ground for divorce. If the husband or the wife had sexual intercourse with a person other than his/her spouse, it is considered a ground for divorce. The Shastri Hindu law also condemned the act of adultery. However, even a single act of adultery can become a ground for divorce. The act of adultery is no more an offence.

Cruelty The concept of cruelty has evolved and includes both mental and physical cruelty. It is the most difficult thing to decide a parameter for cruelty. So, it is to be decided on the circumstances and facts of each case. Thus, cruelty, whether physical or mental, is a ground for divorce.

Desertion Desertion means rejection of all kinds of matrimonial obligations and rights. If the husband or the wife, without any reasonable cause or justification and the consent of the spouse, abandons her/his society or cohabitation for a term of two years in continuation, it becomes a valid ground for divorce under Section 13 (1) of the Act. Conversion: When any of the parties to a marriage has ceased to be a Hindu by conversion to any religion other than Hindu, a suit for divorce can be granted by the Court.

Insanity Insanity is a reasonable ground for divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act,1995. If a person is incurably insane or intermittently insane, it is difficult for the other spouse to live the rest of the life with them; the aggrieved can seek divorce by making the insanity of the person ground for divorce.

Venereal Diseases Venereal diseases are diseases that are communicable by nature. If any of the spouses is suffering from any venereal disease, it becomes a valid reason for divorce. However, it is immaterial whether the disease has been communicated to the other spouse. It is sufficient that one of the spouses is diagnosed with such a disease.

Presumed Death If the husband or the wife is unheard of as being alive, for a period of a minimum of seven years, to such person(s) to whom he is supposed to be heard of, is presumed to be dead, and the Court can pass a decree of divorce. However, the decree remains to be effective even if the person against whom it has been passed appears to be alive.

Renunciation Under Hindu law, renunciation of the world is considered to be a valid ground for divorce. In the Hindu religion, renouncing the world is a holy nation. The spouse can seek a divorce because the other spouse has renounced the world to enter religious gratification. Thus, renunciation is a valid ground for divorce. The grounds available only to the wife under Section 13 (2) can be elucidated as:

• Polygamous Marriage If the husband has another wife alive at the time of the marriage, the wife can file a divorce petition. In other words, if the husband is married once or more than once before the time of the marriage and all the wives/ wife of such person is alive at the time of the marriage, the last wife or other can also seek the decree of divorce by filing a divorce petition under Section 13 (2) of the Act.
• Rape, Sodomy, or Bestiality If the husband has been guilty of rape, sodomy, or bestiality since the solemnization of marriage, the wife can seek divorce by filing a divorce petition.
• Non-resumption of Cohabitation after a decree If the wife has obtained a decree under Section 18 of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 for maintenance or the court has ordered maintenance for the wife under Section 125 of CrPC. The husband has not cohabited with his spouse for a period of one year after the Court's order; the wife can file a petition to seek divorce.
• Repudiation of Marriage The wife can avail this ground for divorce only if she was married before the age of fifteen years, and she has repudiated the marriage or refused to come back to her husband’s place after the marriage. Still, such repudiation has to be done before attaining the age of eighteen years.

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