Under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, there are three primary legal remedies that result in the termination or dissolution of a marriage. While they all end the marital relationship, they differ in their legal nature and the point at which the marriage is deemed invalid.
1. Remedies that Dissolve or Terminate Marriage
A. Nullity of Marriage (Section 11 & 12)
This remedy is used when the marriage is legally flawed from the beginning.
Void Marriages (Section 11): These are marriages that are invalid from the start (ab initio). A decree of nullity is passed if the marriage violates essential conditions like bigamy or prohibited degrees of relationship.
Voidable Marriages (Section 12): These are valid marriages that can be annulled at the option of one party due to reasons like impotency, lack of mental consent, or fraud.
B. Divorce (Section 13)
Divorce is the legal dissolution of a valid marriage. Unlike nullity, the marriage was perfectly legal until the decree of divorce was passed.
C. Divorce by Mutual Consent (Section 13B)
Introduced in 1976, this allows both parties to jointly petition for divorce on the grounds that they have been living separately for at least one year and have mutually agreed to dissolve the marriage.
2. Grounds for Divorce (Section 13)
Either the husband or the wife may file for divorce based on specific "fault" grounds.
Common Grounds for Both Parties (Section 13(1)):
Adultery: The respondent had voluntary sexual intercourse with any person other than their spouse.
Cruelty: Subjecting the spouse to physical or mental cruelty that makes living together intolerable.
Desertion: Abandoning the spouse for a continuous period of at least two years without reasonable cause.
Conversion: The respondent has ceased to be a Hindu by converting to another religion.
Insanity: The respondent is suffering from an incurable unsoundness of mind or mental disorder.
Leprosy/Venereal Disease: Suffering from a "virulent and incurable" form of leprosy or a communicable venereal disease.
Renunciation: The respondent has renounced the world by entering a religious order (e.g., becoming a Sanyasi).
Presumption of Death: The respondent has not been heard of as being alive for seven years or more.
3. Special Grounds for the Wife (Section 13(2))
A wife has additional grounds for divorce that are not available to the husband:
Bigamy: If the husband had another wife living at the time of the marriage.
Rape, Sodomy, or Bestiality: If the husband has been guilty of these offenses since the solemnization of the marriage.
Non-Resumption of Cohabitation: If a decree of maintenance was passed against the husband and the parties have not lived together for one year or more.
Repudiation of Marriage: If she was married before attaining the age of fifteen and she repudiated the marriage before reaching eighteen.
Conclusion
Modern Hindu law has shifted from the "Sacramental" theory (marriage as an eternal bond) toward a mix of the Fault Theory and Breakdown Theory.
While Section 13 focuses on the "wrongdoings" of one spouse (fault), the introduction of Section 13B (Mutual Consent) and the judicial recognition of "Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage" by the Supreme Court (under Article 142) show an evolution toward allowing parties to end a dead marriage with dignity.
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