Introduction
Divorce is the legal way to terminate marital obligations between two persons. In India the divorce can be in two forms- one obtained through mutual consent and other the contested divorce.
Divorce by mutual consent is a legal process of separation after marriage, when both the parties (husband and wife) wants to separate with their own will and terminate the discharge of marital obligations towards each other.
The contested divorce is the type in
which the spouses cannot arrive at an agreement on one or more key issues in
order to conclusively terminate their marriage. This type of divorce usually
happens because of fault of either one or both of the spouses.
The major grounds on which contested divorce is broadly filed are :-
- Cruelty
- Adultery
- Desertion
- Conversion
- Mental Disorder
- Communicable Disease
- Renunciation of the World
- Presumption of Death
The above grounds are most commonly found in all divorce laws prevalent in the country. The application of the divorce laws is based on the religion to which the parties are adhering or confirming to..
Pieces of different legislative enactments under which a divorce -either mutual or contested is filed in Court
- Divorce laws for Hindus including Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists are provided under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955
- Divorce laws for Christians are governed under the Indian Divorce Act, 1869
- Divorce laws for Muslims are governed under their personal laws of Divorce and Dissolution of Marriage Act, 1939 and the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986.
- Divorce laws for all the inter-religion marriages are governed under a secular law i.e. the Special Marriage Act, 1954.
- The Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936.