13 Grounds to Contest for Divorce in India

India till the year 2000 had very low divorce rates. Divorce was more of a taboo and breaking off in the relationship was like amputation, extremely painful and tasking both financially and mentally not only to the spouses also the parents.

But, the past two decades have witnessed huge rise in divorce rates, especially in the urban areas. A survey was conducted by Ipsos and only 53% of Married Indian spouses considered the relationship with their spouse or partner as their greatest source of happiness while 47% don’t consider so.

In my personal experience practicing Family Law for over to two decades, I would have met not less than 10,000+ couples, I can bucketize the challenges broadly into three categories that escalates into marital disputes

1. Equation with In-Laws and Domestic Violence
2. Financial and Monetary Disputes including Dowry
3. Infidelity (Extra Marital Affairs)

India is a pluralistic society; Indians practice a large number of religions. Marriage and Divorce too are therefore governed under personal laws. In some religion marriage is considered as a sacrament and some other religions it’s a contract.

The courts in India broadly accept the following grounds where the Parties facing marital conflict can contest for Divorce. Such grounds for Divorce are Gender Agnostic. Both men and women can file a petition of divorce and contest on any of the below grounds:

1. That, after the solemnisation of the marriage, being in this matrimonial relationship he/she has had voluntary sexual intercourse with any person other than his or her spouse. Divorce On Grounds of Adultery
2. That, after the solemnisation of the marriage, he/she is a victim of Domestic Violence. Such matrimonial abuse can be Physical, Mental, Financial, Verbal or Emotional. Divorce on Grounds of Cruelty
3. That, after the solemnisation of the marriage, he/she has abandoned the relationship and left his/her spouse for a continuous period of more than two years. Divorce on the Grounds of Desertion
4. That, after the solemnisation of the marriage, he/she has abandoned his/her religion and has ceased to be a Hindu by conversion to another religion. This is applicable for couples who have married under Hindu Marriage Act. Divorce on Grounds of Religious Conversion.
5. That, after the solemnisation of the marriage, he/she has developed an mental disorder, diagnosed of an unsound mind, suffering continuously or intermittently from mental disorder of such a kind and to such an extent that one spouse cannot reasonably be expected to live with the other. Divorce on grounds of Insanity.
6. That, after the solemnisation of the marriage, he/she is been suffering from a virulent and incurable form of leprosy. Divorce on grounds of Virulent Disease
7. That, after the solemnisation of the marriage, he/she is been suffering from a been suffering from venereal disease in a communicable form., Eg: HIV/AIDS. Divorce on grounds of Venereal Disease
8. That, after the solemnisation of the marriage, he/she has renounced the world and picked up spiritual path completely deserting the matrimonial relationship and all types of worldly materialistic desires. Divorce on grounds of Renunciation.
9. That, after the solemnisation of the marriage, he/she 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. Divorce on Grounds of Presumption of Death.
10. That, after the solemnisation of the marriage, he/she is judicially separated for more than one year time frame since separation and there is no resumption of cohabitation. Divorce on Grounds of Judicial Separation.
11. That, after the solemnisation of the marriage, he/she has received orders from the Hon’ble for Restitution of the Conjugal rights. After passing such orders the spouse has not reunited with his/her partner for more than a year. Divorce on grounds of non-compliance of RCR Orders.
12. That, after the solemnisation of the marriage, being a legally wedded husband or wife, when the spouse is alive, has married to another person. Divorce on Grounds of Bigamy.
13. That the husband has, since the solemnisation of the marriage, been guilty of rape, sodomy or bestiality or any sexual act that can be classified against the nature. Divorce on Grounds of Unnatural Sexual Acts

Conclusion

Divorce is the legal dissolution of the marital union between a man and a woman. According to this act, the separation is granted by the court of law after receiving a petition from either wife or husband. Such divorce can be contested on the above grounds or also be granted through Mutual Consent. You may read the blog post here on How to Get Divorce by Mutual Consent in India.

Sonia and Partners is a Boutique law firm led by Adv. Sonia Rajesh supported by a team of qualified and among the best lawyers in Bangalore practicing in the area of Family Law and Criminal defence serving Citizens of India, Overseas Indians, NRIs and Global International Clients.

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