The Indian Divorce Act, 1869, provides the legal framework for the dissolution of marriage, including on the grounds of adultery and cruelty, among Christian couples in India. The Act also provides for maintenance and alimony post-divorce and lays down the conditions under which a marriage can be annulled.
Legal Procedures and Grounds for Filing a Divorce
- Adultery: If either spouse has committed adultery after the marriage, the other spouse can file for divorce.
- Cruelty: If either spouse has treated the other with such cruelty as to cause a reasonable apprehension in the mind of the other spouse that it would be harmful or injurious for them to live with the offending spouse, a divorce can be sought.
Maintenance and Alimony Post-Divorce
- The Act provides that the court may, at its discretion, order the husband to pay the wife such gross sum or such monthly or periodical sum as it may deem just for her maintenance and support.
- The court considers the husband’s income and property, the wife’s own property and income, and the conduct of both parties when determining the amount.
Conditions for Annulment of Marriage
- A marriage may be annulled if it is voidable due to the inability of either party to give valid consent due to unsoundness of mind, or if they have been suffering from mental disorder of such a kind as to be unfit for marriage and procreation of children.
- Other grounds include if the respondent was pregnant by someone other than the petitioner at the time of marriage, or if the respondent has been incurably of unsound mind for a continuous period of two years immediately preceding the filing of the petition.