Report No. 15

32. No petition for divorce to be presented within three years of marriage.-

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, it shall not be competent for any court to entertain any petition for dissolution of a marriage by a decree of divorce under section 30, unless at the date of the presentation of the petition three years have elapsed since the date of the marriage:

Provided that the court may grant leave to present a petition before the said three years have elapsed, if the court thinks fit to do so on the ground that the case is one of exceptional hardship to the petitioner or of exceptional depravity on the part of the respondent; but any such leave may, in the interests of justice, be revoked by the court at any time before a decree nisi of divorce is passed; and where the leave is so revoked, the court may dismiss the petition without prejudice to any petition which may be brought after the expiration of the said three years upon the same or substantially the same facts as those alleged in support of the petition so dismissed.

[New] [Cf. section 14, H.M.A., section 29, S.M.A.]

(2) In disposing of any application under this section for leave to present a petition for divorce before the expiration of three years from the date of the marriage, the court shall have regard to the interests of any children of the marriage and to the question whether there is a reasonable probability of a reconciliation between the parties before the expiration of the said three years.

[Cf. section 14(2), H.M.A., section 29(2), S.M.A.]

B.-Re-marriage after divorce