The Hindu Marriage Act – Divorce

Section 13 – Divorce

1. Any marriage solemnized, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, may, on a petition presented by either the husband or the wife, be dissolved by a decree of divorce on the ground that the other party-
   1.  is living in adultery; or
   2. has ceased to be a Hindu by conversion to another religion; or
   3. has been incurably of unsound mind for a continuous period of not less than three years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition; or
   4. has, for a period of not less than three years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition, been suffering from a virulent and incurable form of leprosy; or
   5. has, for a period of not less than three years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition, been suffering from venereal disease in a communicable form; or
   6. has renounced the world by entering any religious order; or
   7. has not been heard of as being alive for a period of seven years or more by those persons who would naturally have heard of it, had that party been alive; or
   8. has not resumed cohabitation for a space of two years or upwards after the passing of a decree for judicial separation against that party; or
   9. has failed to comply with a decree for restitution of conjugal rights for a period of two years or upwards after the passing of the decree.
2. A wife may also present a petition for the dissolution of her marriage by a decree of divorce on the ground,-
   1. in the case of any marriage solemnized before the commencement of this Act, that the husband had married again before such commencement or that any other wife of the husband married before such commencement was alive at the time of the solemnization of the marriage of the petitioner :
      Provided that in either case the other wife is alive at the time of the presentation of the petition; or
   2. that the husband has, since the solemnization of the marriage, been guilty of rape, sodomy or bestiality.