Divorce is the legal dissolution of a marriage by a court or other competent authority. In India, divorce laws vary depending on the religion of the parties involved, with separate legal provisions for Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and Parsis, as well as for civil marriages under the Special Marriage Act, 1954. The process of divorce includes several steps and can either be contested or mutual.
Types of Divorce:
- Mutual Consent Divorce: When both spouses agree to end the marriage amicably and file for divorce together.
- Contested Divorce: When one spouse files for divorce against the other due to specific grounds, and the other spouse does not agree, leading to a contested legal battle.
Divorce Laws Based on Religion:
Hindu Law (Hindu Marriage Act, 1955):
Applies to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs. The grounds for divorce under this act include:
- Adultery: Voluntary sexual intercourse by one spouse with someone else.
- Cruelty: Physical or mental cruelty, such as abuse or harassment.
- Desertion: If one spouse has deserted the other for a continuous period of two years.
- Mental Disorder: If one spouse is suffering from a mental disorder that makes it difficult to live together.
- Conversion: If one spouse has converted to another religion.
- Leprosy: A spouse can file for divorce if the other spouse is suffering from incurable leprosy.
- Venereal Disease: If a spouse is suffering from a sexually transmitted disease (STD).
- Renunciation: If one spouse has renounced the world by entering a religious order.
- Presumption of Death: If a spouse has not been heard of as alive for seven years.
Muslim Law (Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939):
In Islam, divorce can be initiated by either the husband or the wife, with different provisions for each:
- Talaq (by husband): A husband can divorce his wife by pronouncing “Talaq” (a declaration of divorce) thrice, either at once or over a period.
- Talaq-e-Sunnat: A revocable form of divorce, pronounced in two forms: Ahsan and Hasan.
- Talaq-e-Biddat: An instant and irrevocable divorce, now declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of India in 2017.
- Khula (by wife): A wife can initiate divorce by giving something in return to the husband, usually involving a relinquishment of her right to the Mehr.
- Mubarat (mutual consent): Both the husband and wife agree to dissolve the marriage.
- Judicial Divorce: A wife can also file for a divorce on grounds of cruelty, desertion, failure to maintain, impotency, etc.