Indian Divorce Act| A Complete Guide

Divorces among Christian couples are governed by the Indian Divorce Act in India. Divorce means a legal dissolution of a marriage between a man and a woman. As per the Indian Divorce Act, the separation will be permitted by the court of law after it receives a petition from any of the parties. After a divorce, alimony, child custody and visitation, distribution of property and debts is also granted. In this blog, we will discuss in detail the Indian Divorce Act.

An overview

The Indian legal system drafted the Indian Divorce Act in 1869. In India, as the community of people changes, the rules and procedures for a divorce also change. The Indian Divorce Act is responsible for governing the divorces among christian couples whereas the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 is responsible for governing the marriages among the couples belonging to Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and Jain category. The divorce in Muslims is governed by the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1936 and for Parsis by the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936 whereas the Inter and civil community marriages are governed by the Special Marriages Act.

Various Divorce Petitions

The divorce between a christian couple happens by mutual consent and is known as no-fault or mutual divorce or it is possible for the spouse to file for a divorce without asking the other according to the Indian Divorce Act, known as the Fault Divorce.

A Mutual Consent Divorce

When a divorce happens with the consent of both the parties, then it is considered to be a divorce with mutual consent by the court of law under Section 10 A of the Indian Marriage Act. For this, the couple needs to be separated for at least the last two years and the parties have to prove that they have not been husband and wife for this period.

1. They should be separated for more than a year.
2. They should prove that they haven't been residing together.
3. Children’s custody, right of maintenance and property will be granted when the parties agree on them mutually.

A Faulty Divorce or Dissolution of Marriage

As per the guidelines of the Indian Divorce Act, the petition for the dissolution of marriage can be filed by both husband and wife.

The husband can file the petition if:

The wife has been guilty of any sort of adultery ever since the solemnization of the marriage. The petition can be filed by any husband in either the District Court or the High Court. Such kinds of marriages may have been solemnised by the Christian Marriage Act.

The wife can file the petition if:

1. If the husband switches from the profession of christianity to some other religion’s profession.
2. If the husband files for marriage with another woman.
3. If the husband has been involved in adulterous activities ever since the solemnisation of the marriage.
4. If the husband has been involved in bigamy with adultery.
5. If the husband has been with another woman with adultery.
6. If the husband has performed rape, sodomy or bestiality.
7. If the husband is adulterous with desertion without any reasonable excuse for more than two years.

Documents Required

The documents which are needed in order to file of a divorce under the Indian Divorce Act, 1869 are as follows:

• Address Proof of husband
• Wife’s address proof
• Marriage certificate
• Four passport size photos of marriage
• Evidence supporting the fact that the couple has been living separately for more than a year
• Evidence supporting failed reconciliation attempts
• Last two years’ income tax statement
• Profession details and present remuneration
• Information regarding the background of the family
• Property details and other assets owned by the one making the petition.

Process to file for Divorce

The code of civil procedure, 1908 is responsible for regulating the process of filing for a divorce in India. The applicant will first have to file a petition in the district court along with affidavits of both the partners. The following details must be mentioned in the petition:

• Name of both the parties
• Status and domicile of both the parties
• Marriage date and place
• A permanent place where the parties lived together
• Place where the parties last lived together
• Names of the children ( if any) with the date of birth
• The reason for seeking divorce or separation
• The facts and details for which the petitioner seeks the relief
• That the parties are not trying to  deceive the court
• For mutual consent divorce, the allegations made are verified after six months and the couple has to reappear in the court after filing a second motion petition.
• If the judge is satisfied after hearing both the parties, and he feels that all essential grounds are filing the recruitments and the needs of divorce are being met, the couple grants a mutual divorce decree.
• After the issuing of decree of divorce, theCustody of the child, alimony to the wife and litigation expenses will be considered.

Conclusion

In this blog, we discussed the Indian marriage act, and type of divorce petitions along with the divorce with and without mutual consent. We also discussed in detail the documents and procedure to carry out a divorce according to the Indian Divorce Act.