Bill introduces 'irretrievable breakdown' as new divorce ground

This Bill amends the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and the Special Marriage Act, 1954 to allow divorce on the ground of 'irretrievable breakdown of marriage' and to simplify the procedure for mutual consent divorce by removing the requirement for a second joint motion after six months.

Who it concerns: Husbands and wives married under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 or the Special Marriage Act, 1954, as well as district courts handling these divorce petitions.

What the bill does

• Introduces 'irretrievable breakdown of marriage' as a new ground for divorce in both Acts.
• Requires parties to have lived apart for a continuous period of at least three years immediately preceding the petition to prove irretrievable breakdown.
• Allows a single period of up to three months where parties resumed living together to be ignored when calculating the three-year separation period.
• Grants the wife the right to oppose a divorce petition on the ground that it would cause her grave financial hardship.
• Mandates that the court must be satisfied that adequate provision for the maintenance of children (including minors, unmarried/widowed daughters, and children with special health needs) has been made before granting a divorce decree under the new ground.
• Amends the mutual consent divorce process (Section 13B of Hindu Marriage Act and Section 28 of Special Marriage Act) to allow the court to grant a decree upon receipt of the initial petition, removing the previous requirement for a joint motion between six and eighteen months later.

Also in the document

• The Bill is based on recommendations from the Law Commission of India (71st and 217th Reports) and observations by the Supreme Court in cases such as Ms. Jorden Diengdeh vs. S.S. Chopra and Naveen Kohli vs. Neelu Kohli.
• It addresses a previous procedural gap where one party failing to appear for the second joint motion could leave the other party without a remedy for mutual consent divorce.