Divorce .

:- (section 13 of HMA, 1955)—

1. Any marriage whether solemnized before or after the commencement of HMA,1955 may be
dissolved by a decree of divorce by a petition presented either by husband or wife on the
ground that the other party—
a) Has after the solemnization of the marriage, had a voluntary sexual intercourse with any
other person other than his or her spouse (i.e. adultery); or
b) Has after the solemnization of the marriage, treated the petitioner with cruelty; or
c) Has deserted the petitioner for a continuous period of not less than two year
immediately preceding the presentation of the petition; or
(the expression desertion means the desertion of the petitioner by the other party to
the marriage without reasonable cause and without the consent or against the wish of
such party, and includes the willful neglect of the petitioner by the other party to the
marriage, and its grammatical variations and cognate (related) expression shall be
constructed accordingly.)
d) Has ceased to be Hindu by conversion to another religion; or…………?????
e) Has been incurably of unsound mind, or has been suffering continuously or
intermittently(every now and then/ stopping or starting at intervals) from mental
disorder or such kind and to such an extent that the petitioner cannot reasonably be
expected to live with respondent; or
(The expression mental disorder means-- mental illness; arrested or incomplete
development of mind; psychopathic disorder; any other disorder or disability of mind
and includes schizophrenia(a mental illness characterized by abnormal perception,
thinking, behavior and emotion, often marked by delusion);
The expression “ psychopathic disorder” means a persistent disorder or disability of
mind (whether including or not including sub-normality of intelligence) which result in
abnormally aggressive or seriously irresponsible conduct on the part of the other party,
and whether or not it requires or is susceptible to medical treatment.)
f) Has been suffering from venereal (of or relating to the genitals or sexual intercourse)
disease in a communicable form; or
g) Has renounced (left wordly feelings) the world by entering any religious order; or
h) Has not heard for a period of seven or more years by those persons who would
naturally have heard of him/her of being alive .
2. Other grounds for divorce (inserted by act 44 of 1964) by either party to the marriage by a
decree of divorce on the ground—
a) That there has been no resumption of cohabitation (sexual intercourse as husband and
wife) as between the parties to the marriage for a period of 1 or more years after the
decree of judicial separation has been passed in a proceeding to which both are parties;
or
 b) That there has been no restitution of conjugal rights as between the parties to the
marriage for a period of 1 or more years after the decree for restitution of conjugal
rights has been passed in a proceeding to which both were parties; or
3. A wife may also present a petition for dissolution of her marriage by a decree of divorce on
the ground – (these grounds are available for marriage solemnized before or after the
commencement of the Marriage Laws amendment 1946.)
a) When the marriage is solemnized before the commencement of the act, that the
husband had married again before such commencement of the act (case1) or that any
other wife of the husband married to him before such commencement of the act was
alive at the time of the solemnization of the marriage of the petitioner wife (case2); or
(In both the case the other wife of the husband is alive at the time of the presentation
of the petition)
b) That the husband has, since the solemnization of the marriage, been guilty of rape,
sodomy( anal or oral sex with same or opposite gender) or bestiality(sexual intercourse
between human and non-human i.e. animal) ;or
c) That in a suit under section 18 (maintenance of wife), of the Hindu Adoptions and
Maintenance Act, 1956(78 of 1956), or in a proceeding under section 125 (order of
maintenance of wives , childrens and parents), of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973
(2 of 1974) (or under the corresponding section 488 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,
1898 (5 of 1898), a decree or order, as the case may be, has been passed against the
husband awarding maintenance to the wife notwithstanding that she was living apart
and that since the passing of such decree or order, cohabitation between the parties has
not been resumed for one year or upwards; or
d) that her marriage (whether consummated (make a marriage complete by having a
sexual intercourse) or not) was solemnized before she attained the age of fifteen years
and she has repudiated (refuse to accept) the marriage after attaining that age but
before attaining the age of eighteen years.