Divorce to be made easier in India

Independent Media



A Bill seeking to make divorce easier in case of “irretrievable breakdown of marriage” was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

The Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, moved by the Union law minister, Mr M. Veerappa Moily, aims at mitigating hardships by allowing divorce in cases of complete failure of marriages.

At present, the petition for a divorce on the ground of mutual consent could be presented by the spouses together before the court under the Hindu Marriage Act 1955, and the Special Marriage Act 1954.

While both parties have to move a motion jointly before the court between six and 18 months of the original petition, it has been observed in several cases that one of them does not turn up.

This leads parties desirous of obtaining decree of divorce hapless and remediless.

In order to mitigate such hardships and to allow divorce in cases of complete failure of such marriages, the Bill seeks to amend the Hindu Marriage Act and the Special Marriage Act.

The condition of moving the motion before the court subsequent to the first petition would be done away with, it said.

However, in case the wife happens to be the respondent to the petition, she is entitled to oppose it on the ground that the dissolution of marriage would result in grave financial hardship to her.