Divorce Act, 1869

¹[10. Grounds for dissolution of marriage.--

(1) Any marriage solemnized, whether before or after the commencement of the Indian Divorce (Amendment) Act, 2001 (51 of 2001), may, on a petition presented to the District Court either by the husband or the wife, be dissolved on the ground that since the solemnization of the marriage, the respondent---

• (i) has committed adultery; or
• (ii) has ceased to be Christian by conversion to another religion; or
• (iii) has been incurably of unsound mind for a continuous period of not less than two years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition; or
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• (v) has, for a period of not less than two years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition, been suffering from venereal disease in a communicable form; or
• (vi) 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 the respondent if the respondent had been alive; or
• (vii) has wilfully refused to consummate the marriage and the marriage has not therefore been consummated; or
• (viii) 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 against the respondent; or
• (ix) has deserted the petitioner for at least two years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition; or
• (x) has treated the petitioner with such cruelty as to cause a reasonable apprehension in the mind of the petitioner that it would be harmful or injurious for the petitioner to live with the respondent.

(2) A wife may also present a petition for the dissolution of her marriage on the ground that the husband has, since the solemnization of the marriage, been guilty of rape, sodomy or bestiality.]