Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill- An Overview

The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 provides various grounds for dissolution of marriage by decree of Court. The Union Cabinet on March 23, 2012 approved various proposals seeking amendments in the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955 and Special Marriage Act of 1954 aimed at providing irretrievable breakdown of marriage as a new ground for parting ways. Read this article to understand the key elements discussed in the Bill.

Tue Jul 19 2022 | Family Law | Comments (0)

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The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 provides various grounds for dissolution of marriage by decree of Court.  Cruelty, desertion, adultery, unsoundness of mind, conversion to other religion, renunciation of the world, virulent and incurable form of leprosy, venereal disease in a communicable form and not heard of being alive for a period of seven years or more are the grounds for divorce provided under Section 13 of the Act. Similar grounds for divorce have been provided under Section 27 of the Special Marriage Act, 1954. Both the acts also contain a provision for grant of divorce on the ground of mutual consent. The irretrievable breakdown of marriage is not a ground for divorce under both the Acts.

Pursuant to the recommendations of the 71st Report  of the Law Commission of India and the recommendations of the Supreme Court and demand from various sectors, the bill for amendment of the marriage laws was drafted. The Union Cabinet on March 23, 2012 approved various proposals seeking amendments in the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955 and Special Marriage Act of 1954 aimed at providing irretrievable breakdown of marriage as a new ground for parting ways.

PROPOSED CHANGES:

Conclusion:

The irretrievable breakdown of marriage is not a ground for  divorce either under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 or the Special Marriage Act, 1954. The proposed amendment to the marriage laws aims at accelerating the process of divorce, when there is indeed an irretrievable breakdown of marriage. The parties who are going through a broken marriage and cannot live together have to undergo a lot of mental agony. The present procedure also aggravates the suffering of the parties Thus, to save the parties of irretrievable broken marriage from mental agony, it has been proposed to waive off the cooling period of six months granted to parties after the presentation of the bill. The cooling off period will be decided by the Courts on a  case to case basis. The proposed changes in the bill expressly lay emphasis on the welfare of the children while granting divorce to the parties.


Though the provisions of making irretrievable breakdown of marriage as a ground of divorce proposed to be introduced by the Amendment Bill have been appreciated by the people, especially the couples whose marriage has broken down beyond repair, there is a likelihood of the misuse of the provisions. To mitigate the hardship that it could cause  women, the bill also proposes to give women a right in the property of the husband acquired by him during the marriage, though the quantum of the share would be decided upon the case to case basis.

The Marriage Laws Amendment Bill, 2010 provides safeguards to the parties who file petition for grant of divorce keeping in view the interests of the children and also providing financial support to the women by giving her right in the property of the husband.

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