Report No. 15
58. Venereal disease.-
Under section 27(f) of the Special Marriage Act and section 13(1)(v) of the Hindu Marriage Act, the petitioner can ask for divorce on the ground that the respondent had been suffering from venereal disease for three years prior to the petition. It has been urged before us, that as a result of the advance of medical science venereal disease could not now be regarded as incurable, and that it should therefore be no longer a ground for divorce.
We, however, think that there are not sufficient grounds for laying down the law in terms different from those of the Special Marriage Act and the Hindu Marriage Act. Nor is this view likely to create any great hardship, as no action for divorce could be maintained unless the respondent had been suffering from the disease for three years prior to the petition. It should also be mentioned that while the Special Marriage Act provides that it will be a ground for divorce only if the disease had not been communicated by the petitioner, there is no such limitation in the Hindu Marriage Act. We have preferred to follow the language of the Hindu Marriage Act.
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