
Divorce
Divorce
- Insanity
- Adultery
- Cruelty
- Desertion
- Conversion
- Veneral Disease
- Renunciation
- Presumption of Death
Grounds of divorce available under the hindu marriage act, 1955
The grounds of divorce which are mentioned under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 are as follows:-
- Adultery
- Cruelty
- Desertion
- Conversion
- Unsoundness of mind
- Venereal disease
- Renunciation
- Presumption of death
- Adultery– If a person has sexual intercourse with the wife of another man without obtaining the consent of the husband of such woman not amounting to the offence of rape is known as adultery. The punishment which can be prescribed for this offence is imprisonment of five years or fine or both.
- Cruelty– There are mainly two types of cruelty, mental cruelty and physical cruelty.
- Mental cruelty– It refers to the mental health of the spouse which is affected by the constant cruelty meted out to him/her by the other spouse. We will often witness that it is easy to know or determine if the spouse is suffering from physical cruelty but if one is suffering from mental cruelty, then it is very hard to figure it out at first sight. One has to be constantly involved with the married partners in order to know the amount and kind of mental cruelty that is happening.
- Physical cruelty– If the spouse is having bodily injuries or there is apprehension of threat to life, limb and health of any one of the spouse then it is referred to as physical cruelty.
- Desertion– If a spouse has deserted the other for a continuous period of not less than two years, without giving a reasonable cause then the aggrieved party can approach the Court of law to obtain the decree of divorce.
- Conversion– When one of the spouses get converted to another religion and also renounced Hinduism, then the spouse who is affected by such conversion of the other spouse can file a divorce petition. Such conversion must lead to differences between the parties and such differences must be so grave that the breakdown of marriage might occur.
- Unsoundness of mind– As per section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, if one of the spouses is incurably of unsound mind or if he/she is suffering from mental disorder of such a kind that the other spouse cannot be expected to live with him/her, then the spouse can approach the court of law for obtaining the decree of divorce.
- Venereal disease- The marriage can be dissolved if any one of the spouses is suffering from a venereal disease. Divorce on this ground can be granted to either of the spouse who is infected or uninfected. The reason for the same is that the marital bond between the parties cannot be so strong that it endangers the health of the uninfected spouse to the marriage.
- Renunciation- When one of the spouses decides to renunciate the world then the other spouse can approach the court of law to obtain the decree of divorce. Because whoever renounces the world is considered to be dead in his civil life.
- Presumption of death- When one of the spouse gets lost or if the whereabouts of such spouse are not known for a period of more than seven years then such person is presumed to be dead. In such circumstances, the aggrieved person can file for divorce on the ground of the presumption of death of such spouse.
Evidences -
Evidence of the petitioner–
The petitioner who is the aggrieved party, submits his/her evidence which is in the form of an affidavit, subject himself/herself for the cross- examination means for the questions to be asked by the respondent’s advocate. In this stage petitioner is at liberty to call any witness to support his case and respondent will also be at liberty to cross-examine the said witness.
Evidence of the respondent
After closing of Petitioner evidences, the respondent may submit his/her evidence by way of an affidavit and subject himself or his witnesses for cross examination or questions of the petitioner’s advocate.
This stage is considered to be the most vital, because it actually decides the fate of the case.
Judgments on one-sided divorce or regarding cruelty pronounced by the hon’ble supreme court of india
“Mayadevi vs jagdish prasad” – The Hon’ble Apex Court of India has held that if any spouse faces mental cruelty then they have the right of divorce on this very ground. In this particular case, the husband filed the divorce case against his wife after facing mental cruelty. The husband further alleged that his spouse denied to provide him food and rather blamed the husband for all of this. Therefore, the Court held that a man is also entitled to seek divorce from his wife, if he is constantly facing cruelty on the part of his wife.
“Dastane vs dastane” – The Court determined in this case that if the wife is giving constant threats of suicide and abuses her husband verbally, then it will be considered a sufficient ground to seek divorce among other things. In this case the divorce was granted on the basis of mental cruelty.
Frequency and questions
As per Section 19 of the Hindu Marriage Act, the district court shall have jurisdiction within the local limits of which-
- the marriage was solemnized
- the respondent at the time of the presentation of the petition resides
- the parties to the marriage last resided together
The preponderance of probability is required to prove cruelty.
No, because the nature of the case is of low gravity.
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