Your Heartfelt and Updated Guide to Grounds for Divorce in India 2025
Ending a marriage is painful and scary. Still, knowing the law helps you make calm, clear choices. This guide explains the main Grounds for Divorce in India in 2025, how new reforms like the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) or reform initiatives labeled BNS may affect cases, and practical steps to protect yourself. I keep it simple, direct, and human so a teenager or any young adult can follow along.
How Divorce Law Works in India The Basics
India uses different laws depending on religion and how you married. The main rules most people look at are the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (HMA) and the Special Marriage Act, 1954 (SMA). Christians use the Indian Divorce Act, 1869, Parsis follow the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936, and Muslims rely on personal law and the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939. Even though the laws differ, many of the grounds for divorce overlap.
This guide centers on the Hindu Marriage Act to explain the main ideas, since many other laws use similar language and principles. Wherever it helps, I point out how things work for other personal laws too.
What Is New: BNS and Family Cases
India is changing how crimes and court procedures work. The new law often called Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) replaced the old Indian Penal Code in many ways. You might also see the name Bharatiya Nyaya Samiti in reform talks or drafts. Either way, these reforms aim to modernise criminal law and court work.
Why does this matter for divorce? Many divorce fights involve criminal complaints like cruelty or harassment. When the criminal code changes, those complaints may follow new sections under BNS. For example, cruelty earlier covered under Section 498A IPC now appears in BNS as a corresponding provision. That affects how police, investigators, and courts handle those cases while your divorce runs its course.
Core Fault-Based Grounds for Divorce in India
When spouses cannot agree to split, one person can file a contested divorce on fault grounds. These need proof. The main fault-based grounds under the HMA are:
- Cruelty: This covers physical harm and emotional abuse. Courts accept many forms of mental cruelty like repeated insults, isolation, threats, or constant harassment if they make living together unsafe or unbearable.
- Adultery: If a spouse has sexual relations outside marriage, you can use that as a ground. Adultery is no longer a crime after a 2018 Supreme Court ruling, but it remains a civil ground in divorce law.
- Desertion: If one partner leaves without reason or consent and stays away for at least two continuous years before filing, courts can grant divorce on desertion.
- Conversion: If a spouse converts to another religion and truly gives up the old faith, that can be a ground for divorce under some laws.
- Unsound Mind / Incurable Mental Illness: Where a mental disorder makes married life impossible, with solid medical proof and expert testimony, courts may allow divorce.
- Venereal Disease / Leprosy: If a spouse has a virulent, communicable disease that they did not contract from the petitioner, that can be a ground.
- Renunciation of the World: If a spouse becomes a member of a religious order and abandons worldly life, courts may treat that as a ground.
- Presumption of Death: If a spouse has not been heard of for seven years or more by people who would normally hear from them, the other can file for divorce by presuming death.
Mutual Consent Divorce, The Easier Path
Mutual consent is often the fastest and least painful way to separate. Under Section 13B of the HMA (and similar rules under other acts), both spouses file a joint petition saying the marriage has broken down and they agree on issues like custody, maintenance, and property.
Courts usually wait six months after the first petition before the second motion, to give the couple time to rethink. But judges can waive that period in special cases. Mutual consent gives you more control over the settlement and prevents long court battles.
Irretrievable Breakdown, Courts Are Listening
Although the HMA does not explicitly list “irretrievable breakdown” as a ground, courts including the Supreme Court have started using broad powers to grant divorce where a marriage is clearly beyond repair. A notable example is the 2023 Supreme Court case Shilpa Sailesh v. Varun Sreenivasan, where the court said it can dissolve marriages under Article 142 when no hope of reunion exists.
This approach helps people stuck in marriages that cannot be saved but do not fit neat statutory boxes. Still, these cases usually reach higher courts and need careful legal work.
Evidence, Interim Relief and Practical Steps
Strong evidence matters in contested cases. Always try to preserve proof early. Useful items include:
- Marriage certificate and photos
- Messages, call logs, emails and screenshots
- Medical reports and police complaints
- Bank statements and property documents
- Witness statements and affidavits
Courts can give interim relief like temporary maintenance, protection orders, or custody directions while a divorce proceeds. You can apply for interim support under Section 24 of the HMA or similar provisions in other laws.
If you face violence, your first call should be safety: file an FIR, get a protection order under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, and seek shelter if needed.
How BNS May Change Family Cases
The BNS reforms aim to streamline criminal procedures and speed up courts. If the BNS text or related rules come into force fully, family disputes that tie into criminal complaints may move faster. Reforms could also push more mediation, stronger victim support, and clearer timelines for investigations. Always check official sources like the Gasette of India or the Ministry of Law and Justice to confirm the exact rules in effect.
Special Situations: NRIs, Cross-Border Cases and Remarriage
For NRIs, Indian courts can still hear your case if the marriage happened in India or if either spouse lives in India. Serving papers abroad might take time, and you may need consular help or special service rules. If you remarry before a decree becomes final, that remarriage can face legal challenge and even nullification until the court process finishes. For foreign divorce orders, Indian courts recognise them in certain cases, but enforcement is complex and needs careful legal work.
Practical Checklist Before You File
- Talk to a family lawyer who knows your personal law
- Save all digital evidence and back it up
- Gather financial documents: bank statements, salary slips, tax returns
- Get medical records, FIR copies and witness contacts
- Consider mediation if both sides are safe and willing
- Think about children’s welfare and custody plans first
Common Questions Young People Ask
1. long will a divorce take?
Ans: Mutual consent cases often finish within 6 to 18 months. Contested cases can take 2 to 5 years or more, depending on evidence, appeals, and court workload.
2. Can adultery still be used in divorce after decriminalisation?
Ans: Yes. The Supreme Court removed adultery as a crime in 2018, but it remains a civil ground for divorce under personal laws like the HMA.
3. Can a wife claim maintenance?
Ans: Yes. Courts decide maintenance based on income, expenses, and lifestyle. You can get interim maintenance while the case is on and permanent maintenance after a decree, depending on the facts.
4. What is mental cruelty?
Ans: Mental cruelty means repeated behavior that causes severe emotional pain and makes it impossible to continue the marriage. Examples include threats, humiliation, isolation, or persistent harassment. Courts look for patterns, not single incidents.
5. What if one spouse is missing abroad?
Ans: The court can still grant divorce. Serving notice internationally can slow the process, but Indian courts retain jurisdiction in many situations.
Important Cases and Laws to Know
Here are a few core references that shape modern practice:
- Hindu Marriage Act, 1955: main source for Hindus, lists grounds and procedure including Section 13B for mutual consent.
- Special Marriage Act, 1954: governs inter-faith and civil marriages with similar grounds.
- Joseph Shine v. Union of India (2018): decriminalised adultery but kept it as a civil ground.
- Recent Supreme Court trends on irretrievable breakdown and the evolving role of Article 142.
- Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita / BNS reforms: watch official notifications to learn how criminal aspects linked to family law will change.
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