- Section 13 lists the grounds for a contested divorce; Section 13B covers mutual consent.
- No petition can usually be filed within one year of marriage (Section 14).
- The six-month wait in mutual consent can be waived on the Amardeep Singh conditions.
- Irretrievable breakdown is not a ground a family court can apply.
- Indian law has no general division of matrimonial assets; Section 27 covers only property presented at the marriage that belongs jointly to both.
On this page
Types of divorce under Hindu law
| Remedy | Section | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Restitution of conjugal rights | 9 | Orders a spouse who left without reasonable cause to return |
| Judicial separation | 10 | Lets spouses live apart without ending the marriage |
| Divorce on a ground | 13 | Ends the marriage on proof of a ground |
| Divorce by mutual consent | 13B | Ends the marriage on joint petition after one year apart |
Grounds for Hindu Marriage Act divorce
- Cruelty.
- Desertion for at least two years.
- Adultery.
- Conversion to another religion.
- Serious mental disorder.
- Renunciation of the world.
- Not heard of as alive for seven years.
- No resumption of cohabitation for a year after a decree of judicial separation or restitution (Section 13(1A)).
A wife has additional grounds under Section 13(2), including the husband's bigamy before the Act and non-resumption after a maintenance order.
Divorce by mutual consent under Hindu law
Both spouses file a joint petition after living separately for at least a year and confirm consent in a second motion. In Amardeep Singh v Harveen Kaur (2017) the Supreme Court allowed the family court to waive the six-month gap where, among other things, the couple had already lived apart for at least eighteen months before the first motion, all disputes were settled, and mediation had failed.
Where can a Hindu Marriage Act petition be filed?
Section 19 allows filing where the marriage was solemnised, where the respondent lives, where the parties last lived together, where a petitioning wife lives, or where the petitioner lives if the respondent is outside India or not heard of for seven years.
What about irretrievable breakdown?
It is not a ground under the Act. In Shilpa Sailesh v Varun Sreenivasan (2023), the Supreme Court held that it can dissolve a marriage on that basis under Article 142 of the Constitution, but family courts cannot.
Maintenance, custody and property
Sections 24 and 25 provide interim maintenance and permanent alimony; Section 26 covers custody. Section 27 lets the court deal with property presented at or about the time of the marriage that belongs jointly to husband and wife. There is no general power to divide all assets of the marriage. See divorce lawyer services.
Founder and Managing Partner, VIVS Legal. BLS, LL.B, LL.M, PGDBM, JAIIB.
