Report No. 15

54. Desertion.-

Under section 27 (b) of the Special Marriage Act, 1954, it is a ground for divorce that the petitioner had been deserted without cause for a period of at least three years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition. Under the Hindu Marriage Act this is a ground for judicial separation, but not for divorce. In England desertion was made a ground for judicial separation by the Matrimonial Causes Act, 1857, and it was only in the Matrimonial Causes Act 1937, that it became for the first time a ground for divorce, and that is the law as enacted in section 10(1)(b) of the Matrimonial Causes Act, 1950. In our opinion this should be available as a ground for divorce among Christians.