Report No. 71

2.2. Present position under the Hindu Marriage Act, 195.- section 13(1).-

It may be convenient to set out very briefly the present grounds of divorce under the Act. Section 13(1) of that Act-to state the gist-allows divorce on a petition presented by either spouse on the ground that the other party-

(i) has, after the solemnization of the marriage, had voluntary sexual intercourse with any person other than his or her spouse; or

(ii) has, after such solemnization, treated the petitioner with cruelty; or

(iii) has deserted the petitioner for a continuous period of not less than two years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition; or

(iv) has ceased to be a Hindu by conversion to another religion; or

(v) has been incurably of unsound mind, or has been suffering continuously or intermittently from mental disorder of such a kind and to such an extent that, the petitioner cannot reasonably be expected to live with the respondent; or

(vi) has been suffering from a virulent and incurable form of leprosy; or

(vii) has been suffering from veneral disease in a communicable form; or

(viii) has renounced the world by entering any religious order; or

(ix) has not been heard of as being alive for a period of seven years or more by those persons who would naturally have heard of it, had that party been alive.

There are two Explanations, explaining the meaning of the expressions "mental disorder" and "desertion", which are not material for the present purpose.