What Are The Grounds For Divorce Under The Special Marriage Act?

The Special Marriage Act, 1954 (SMA) governs inter-religious and inter-caste marriages in India. It establishes a system within which such marriages may be celebrate and in due course, legally dissolved. Among other things, the act outlines the grounds for divorce as provide by the law so that justice may be done to the parties concern with due regard for their self-respect.

Special Marriage Act 1954: About

• The SMA is a non-religious statute enact to allow for the marriage of persons without regard to sex, religion, caste, or any such barriers. Unlike laws that are categorize as personal laws directed towards marriage and divorce in India, the SMA is a law relate to marriage and division that applies to citizens of the country without regard to their religion. 
• This Act was introduce to further the principles of equality and secularism which are fundamental in the Indian Constitution.
• Under the SMA also registration of marriage is done before a Marriage Officer after the expiry of 30 days notice period. It is applicable not only to new marriages but also to processes of registration of marriages that have already taken place. 
• Divorce under the SMA is similarly regulate in such a way as to maintain the principles of justice and equality between the parties but taking into consideration the specific situations of the parties to the divorce.

Grounds for Divorce under Special Marriage Act 

Section 27 of the SMA details the specific causes for which a divorce petition can be lodge by either party. These can be respectively group as those base on culpability and those incurring no efforts to blame the other. The grounds for divorce under the Special Marriage Act are as follows:

• Adultery: The respondent engaged in consensual sexual relations with anyone who is not their husband or wife, after getting marry. 
• Desertion: For at least two years prior to the submission of the petition, the Petitioner has been desert by the Respondent for that entire period following the solemnization of the marriage. 
• Imprisonment: The respondent is serving a sentence of seven years or more, for any crime under the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita. 
• Cruelty: The actions of the respondent towards the petitioner since the marriage have been cruel.
• Mental Disorder: The Respondent is or has been incurable of or has suffered continuously or intermittently from such a mental disorder that the Petitioner cannot be reasonably expect to reside with the Respondent. 
• Venereal Disease: The Respondent has been afflict with communicable sexually transmit infections. 
• Presumption of Death: The respondent who would normally have interested people had been missing for seven years or more without any information of them being alive.
• Conversion of Religion: In a situation where one partner chooses to embrace a different religion and stops being a Hindu, a Muslim, a Christian, or any other religion practiced before the marriage, the other partner has the right to file for divorce. It must be understand that conversion also signifies an absolute abandonment of the previous religion.

In addition to the circumstances outlined above, the wife may file a divorce application in the district court on the following basis: 

• That her husband has been convict in the course of their marriage for the offense of rape, sodomy, or bestiality, or
• That order of maintenance has been make in favor of the wife against the husband, and since that order was make, there has been no resumption of the conjugal relationship for one year or more.

The Honourable Supreme Court of India held that Section 27 of the Special Marriage Act allows one of the parties to the marriage to apply for dissolution of marriage on the grounds of venereal disease contracted by the spouse. Hence it becomes both a moral as well as a legal obligation for a man proposing marriage to a woman to disclose any physical illness that he may have that is potentially infectious.

Finally, the Special Marriage Act is a step in the right direction, in recognition of the problems of possible frivolous lawsuits and Courts by providing for divorce by mutual consent in Section 28 which, states that a divorce petition may be file in the district court by the husband and wife jointly on the grounds that the couple has been separate for at least one year and that the marriage is no longer tenable as they both agree to dissolve the union.

No-Fault Divorce

• The notion of No-Fault Divorce is a broader application that is coming up in Indian Law and has helped in the ease of application of divorce laws in India. 
• The concept indicates that marriages may end not due to any fault of either of the partners, but simply due to differences in the marriage that cannot be reconcile.
• Marginal as this concept sounds, the courts in India have started recognizing this as one of the grounds for seeking divorce despite the lack of specific legislation on the concept.

The Special Marriage Act 1954 is an embodiment of equality and inclusiveness in India’s legal regime governing marriage and divorce. Similarly, the grounds for divorce as outlined under the SMA represent a fair approach to safeguarding the rights of the individual as well as situations relating to marriages.

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