New Delhi: A bill seeking to make divorce
easier in case of "irretrievable breakdown of marriage" was
today introduced in the Rajya Sabha today.
The Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, moved by Law Minister
M Veerappa Moily, aims at mitigating hardships by allowing
divorce in cases of complete failure of marriages.
At present, the petition for a divorce on the ground of
mutual consent could be presented by the spouses together
before the court under the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 and the
Special Marriage Act 1954.
While both parties have to move a motion jointly before
the court between six and 18 months of the original petition,
it has been observed in several cases that one of them does
not turn up.
This leads parties desirous of obtaining decree of divorce
hapless and remediless. In order to mitigate such hardships
and to allow divorce in cases of complete failure of such
marriages, the bill seeks to amend the Hindu Marriage Act and
the Special Marriage Act.
The condition of moving the motion before the court
subsequent to the first petition would be done away with, it
said.
However, in case the wife happens to be the respondent to
the petition, she is entitled to oppose it on the ground that
the dissolution of marriage would result in grave financial
hardship to her.
Similarly, a provision has been made to restrict grant of
divorce on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage
if the court is satisfied that adequate provision for
maintenance of children has not been made.
The amendment bill has been prepared on the
recommendations of the Law Commission as well as the Supreme
Court.
The clause of irretrievable breakdown of marriage will be
in addition to the existing grounds for divorce.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, August 04, 2010, 21:41