Marriage and divorce laws in our country belong to an era that has long elapsed. But the laws have neither kept pace nor do they take into account the altered socio-economic realities of contemporary India. This is highlighted, once more, by the recent controversy surrounding grounds for divorce following Smriti Shinde's petition to the apex court urging it to consider granting unilateral divorce when a marriage has irretrievably broken down. The Supreme Court itself is ambivalent about where it stands on the matter.

Under the Hindu Marriage Act or the Special Marriage Act, there are no provisions that recognise "irretrievable breakdown" or "irreconcilable differences" as grounds for granting divorce when it is not a mutually consensual decision. However, in 2006, the apex court granted divorce in the Naveen Kohli vs Neelu Kohli case, precisely because of irretrievable breakdown of marriage. But, early this year, another SC bench refused to entertain this argument in the Vishnu Dutt Sharma vs Manju Sharma case. It decided to stick to the letter of the law.

This is as good a time as any for the laws governing divorce to be updated. In doing so, the issue must not be looked at through a moral prism alone. As Indians interface with the world and are exposed to new ideas and opportunities, there is bound to be a social churn, which impacts on personal affairs like marriage and family relations. Add to this the fact that more women today are economically more independent and assertive of their rights and choices. Divorce must be seen as a social reality, unfortunate though it might be, and not as a social evil.

There are of course legitimate concerns that waiving the mutual consent clause to grant divorce in cases of irreparable marital breakdown would put women in a vulnerable position. But that cannot be used as an excuse to deny those who would genuinely benefit from easing the process of obtaining a divorce. As things stand, one has to go through a lengthy, convoluted and extremely stressful procedure to get a divorce. It's time that changed.

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Comments (2)

• |15-02-2010 19:10:08 amit
  Unless irretrievable breakdown of marriage is added as a criterion to grant divorce unilaterally to
  battered and hara**ed husbands, wives would continue to abuse the maintenance law to their
  advantage. Just as a married woman can be hara**ed, it is perfectly well-founded, reasoned,
  believable and seen that married men are hara**ed too.
  
  Can we have a level-playing field where the act of a spouse is considered and not his or her being a
  male or a female???
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• |07-02-2010 10:01:07 vishal nanda  - Mr
  Every individual has a right to live in free air. When the constant nagging by either spouses create
  the atmosphere which is suffocating, it creates agony. The man / woman are liable to be more violent
  under these circumstances. It is in the interest of the society under these conditions people should
  be allowed to restart their lifes seperately.
  
  This will help to get away from negative energies & they can be more creative.
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  ReplyQuote

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