The government is planning changes in the law to make divorce quicker and easier for Hindu couples. The Union Cabinet will consider a proposal Thursday to amend the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 and the Special Marriage Act 1954 to make “irretrievable breakdown of marriage” a ground for divorce.
At present this is not listed among the grounds for divorce in these two laws despite recommendations by the Law Commission and a series of Supreme Court rulings. The proposed amendments are based on changes suggested in a Law Commission report submitted to the government on March 30, 2009 by its chairman A.R. Lakshmanan.
The report, a copy of which is with this newspaper, noted that Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 provided grounds for a divorce petition, and Section 27 of the Special Marriage Act 1954 similarly provided grounds for divorce in case of marriages solemnised under it, but neither of these offered “irretrievable breakdown of marriage” as a ground for divorce.
The report pointed out that the Supreme Court had recently asked the Union of India in Naveen Kohli vs Neelu Kohli (AIR 2006 SC 1675) to seriously consider enacting an amendment to the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 to incorporate “irretrievable breakdown of marriage” as a ground for divorce.