CONTESTED DIVORCE IN INDIA

Tahmina Naz : CONTESTED DIVORCE

A contested divorce takes place when one of the spouses wants to get a divorce and the other doesn’t.

The Contested Divorce is filed under Section13 of Hindu Marriage Act,1955. The petition is filed only by one spouse since the other does not consent. Also, it is time-consuming. The duration for obtaining divorce varies from case to case and place to place.

Generally speaking, contested proceedings take 20 to 24 months. The separate divorce lawyers handle the case.

This kind of divorce is the most complicated of divorces because it involves spouses who can’t agree on one or more divorce-related issues in their case.

PROCEDURE

STEP 1:- Filing of petition by the husband or wife.

STEP 2:- Court issues summons and seeks reply from the other spouse.

STEP 3:- Court may suggests reconciliation.

STEP 4:- Examination and cross-examination of witnesses and evidence.

STEP 5:- Counsels for both parties present final arguments.

STEP 6:- Decree of divorce passed by the court.

The general grounds for contested divorce are:

• Cruelty: which may be physical or mental. According to the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, one spouse’s mind must have a reasonable apprehension that the other spouse’s conduct is likely to be injurious or harmful.
• Adultery: It means consensual sexual intercourse outside of marriage. A man who commits adultery can also be charged with a criminal offence, but not a woman
• Desertion: Intended and have lasted for a continuous period of two years under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
• Conversion, under which divorce can be sought by a spouse if the other spouse converts to another religion.
• Mental Disorder, to such an extent that the normal duties of married life cannot be performed.
• Communicable Disease, which allows the granting of a divorce if a spouse suffers from a communicable disease such as HIV/AIDS, syphilis, gonorrhoea or a virulent and incurable form of leprosy.
• Renunciation of the world: where a spouse renounces his/her married life and opts for sannyasa
• Presumption of death, when a spouse has not been heard of as being alive for a period of at least seven years by a known person.