DAMODARAM SANJIVAYYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

SABBAVARAM, VISAKHAPATNAM, A.P., INDIA

PROJECT TITLE:

DIVORCE : CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES

SUBJECT:

SOCIOLOGY

NAME OF THE FACULTY:

MR. LAKSHMIPATI RAJU SIR

NAME OF THE CANDIDATE:D. SAI SIDDI SRIKHAR

ROLLNO:2018027
SEMESTER:I
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my teacher Mr.

Lakshmipati Raju Sir who gave me the golden opportunity to do this wonderful
project on the topic (Divorce : Causes and consequences), which also helped me in
doing a lot of Research and I came to know about so many new things I am really
thankful to them.
Secondly I would also like to thank my friends who helped me a lot in finalizing
this project within the limited time frame.
 ABSTRACT.
Divorces have emerged as a very likely outcome of marriages today, questioning the truth of the
saying that marriages are ‘made in heaven’. The divorce rates among young couples are
increasing progressively and have thus become an issue of major concern. Divorces were not so
common in the past, but as time passed by, it began to be accepted as more of a common
practice. Divorce being chosen more often than not also means that young couples tend to try
less on trying to work out the relationship. The increasing divorce rate persists because couples
choose divorce as an option for problems that most of the times can be solved by discussion and
compromise. In this research I have tried to look into different aspect of divorce and reasons
related to it. I not only looked into married people’s perception but I have also tried finding the
thinking pattern of unmarried young people who will so be entering life of married people.
 AIMS OF THE STUDY/SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
Aim of the study is to understand the causes and consequences faced by people due to divorce.

RESEACH METHODOLOGY
Doctrinal

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Wide
TABLE OF CONTENTS.

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND

THE FAMILY DISINTEGRATION AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

DIVORCE CONSEQUENCES

CAUSES OF DIVORCE

EFFECTS OF DIVORCE

LEGISLATIONS

CASE LAWS

SUMMARY

RECOMMENDATIONS

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY
 INTRODUCTION
Divorce is defined as the legal termination of a marriage, but in its real sense there is a lot more
to it than just the end of a relationship. Nowadays many marriages end in divorce, and
surprisingly most of them end at their early stages. This is an important study in the sociological
research today as along with divorce rates going up, people’s level of tension and hesitation
about marriage is also increasing.

Nowadays the society accepts divorce very easily and even suggests it as a solution to the trivial
problems faced in a husband-wife relationship. Therefore marriages and family life are at risk. If
the numbers of divorces keep on rising in this pattern, marriages might as well become extinct.
To add to the existing problem, various law firms and websites provoke divorce through various
methods such as advertising the benefits of divorce or by offering customized divorce forms
online. The soaring divorces are not just questioning the importance of relationships and ties but
they are also creating severe after effects in the life of the divorcees. There are harsh emotional,
medical, financial and psychological implications of divorce.
 BACKGROUND
Though divorce at an individual level is a liberating factor for estranged couples, the problem
arises when the divorce rate becomes too high and people begin to see it as a quick and easy way
out of their marriages. An abnormally high divorce rate is not good for the society at all. A
generation down the line, it will have serious social consequences, some of which are given
below. Missing Parent A divorce splits the family right down the middle. One parent, usually
the father, has to pack his or her bags and move out of the house. Children are then forced to live
with one parent while the other parent gets only visitation rights. The family becomes lopsided.

The single parent has to juggle both job as well as domestic duties, and is unable to give the
kind of upbringing and attention that should be given to the children for their healthy growth.
Single-parent upbringing with the permanent absence of one parent creates serious psychological
problems for children. Children of divorce suffer from stress, anxiety and depression in their
childhood. These feelings often persist well into adulthood.

Divorce is bad for adults. Marriage is a very close relationship that provides solid emotional
support and comfort. You get to be intimate with another individual and share all your secrets
with your spouse. You are duty-bound to come to each other’s assistance when in need and
provide a shoulder to lean on whenever your husband or wife is feeling low and depressed.
People who divorce deprive themselves of the support offered by the marital relationship. They
suffer from the trauma of divorce and may slip into a chronic depression. This affects the success
of their future relationships since they may develop a feeling deep down within them that their
partners just cannot be trusted. People bitten by divorce may take to alcoholism and even attempt
suicide. Worse, if they have children, the latter suffer too with them and may also develop many
psychological problems.There could be any number of reasons for the rise in the divorce rate in
recent times. One reason could be that divorce is more socially acceptable to more people now.
Another reason could be that fewer people belong to religions that oppose divorce and/or fewer
people following rules of religion even if they attend services regularly. Another factor could be
that in the past more people stayed in situations that today are considered abusive, and the
increased awareness of what constitutes abuse and why leaving is not only ok, but desirable,
could play a rule as well.
I think, though, that there may be a less obvious and possibly more widespread problem at the
root of many relationships, and I think it stems from a widely accepted piece of advice given to
young people: "You shouldn't just marry someone because you're in love with them. That kind of
love wears off. You should marry your best friend." This advice comes from the fact that many
people are aware of differences between infatuation and "real love", and many people are equally
aware that infatuation can seem like real love but wear off. People generally understand, too, that
even in the relationship that is headed for a calmer love there is the stage of hyperventilating
when the partners of a new relationship talk with one another and of flowers and not being able
to be the first one to hang up at the end of a phone conversation.

All this awareness of what "real love" is and isn't is something that our society has seemed to
generate over the last few decades; and while much of what people say about love and
relationships is often generally true, the "marry-your-best-friend" advice can at times backfire.
Young people generally have no problem meeting other young people, and if both individuals
are nice people and enjoy being with the other it is very easy for a relationship to continue. Since
relationships usually begin as a result of people's being attracted to one another most
relationships could be seen as "the infatuation stage" at the beginning. The attraction can remain
for quite a while, and as the relationship turns into "something deeper" it can seem as if the
relationship is solid. The partners often become "best friends too", which makes the relationship
seem perfect. Another scenario, though, is people sometimes get together out of a mutual interest
or even convenience and become best friends as well. This means that an awful lot of couples
who marry believe they are marrying their best friend. In a way these couples are right about
turning their relationship into marriage. It is true that people who are not "best friends too" can
have more tumultuous relationships even before marriage. The calm and niceness of marrying
this best friend can seem so much more right.

Sometimes, though, when a relationship begins with infatuation (which is fleeting) turns into one
of best friends what is missing from that relationship doesn't even show up because what is
missing is the kind of solid, permanent, love that is harder to come by but that will always
survive. There may be something in it for people to believe that there is a type of love that isn't
infatuation and that isn't being the closest of best friends because its easier to find new
relationships with people to whom we are attracted and with whom we will become best friends
than it is to live for, maybe, years without meeting that person with whom we have "magic".
Some people don't even believe this kind of love exists. Others don't want to take a chance and
find they've lived alone for too long because they held out in their hopes to find "magic". This
"magic" standard is a tough one, and many women would age right out of their childbearing
years if this is the standard they held; so finding the romance in a relationship with a best friend
or finding the best friend with whom we can have a little romance can be ways that the majority
of people can have a relationship without holding out for one that may have more solid
permanence but that may be so rare it won’t be found.
THE FAMILY DISINTEGRATION AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

The biggest divorce per cent is among the early marriages, because people who marry are young,
immature, infantile, with a low enough spiritual and social level, who consider that the
foundation of their marriage is sexual relationships. Moreover the roles of man and woman have
changed. Women took upon themselves a lot of man’s responsibilities. The terms “marriage” and
“love” are not identical, they do not mean the same. Love can fade away and be replaced by a
new one. On the one hand in such a case society can not judge the person’s behaviour, if he or
she decides to divorce and marry again because of new love, since love is considered to be
symbol of marital relations. On the other hand society is interested in the strength of family and
marriage relations, because they are the base for the birth and upbringing of children.

There are such situations when marriage is burden for both spouses, as the family relationships
did not work out. This kind of divorce is more preferred and even necessary. Young women are
more tend to decision of divorce, because they want to find loving and loyal man and to create a
new family. But this dream not always comes true, and as the life shows, divorced woman in
most of cases remains alone and raises a child on her own.

Divorce is a disturbing signal of existing problems. One of the most common reasons of divorce
and family conflicts is misunderstanding between husband and wife, caused by psychological
features of both. But also there are other important reasons that lead to divorce.

 Alcohol. It is also one of the most common reasons of divorce, and it even happens that
the causer is a woman who drinks. And it only makes the situation worse.
 Financial problems of a young family. Nowadays it is very difficult to young families to
buy a house to live separately. They have to live in an apartment with their parents or to
rent a house, which is not always affordable for a young family. In addition, low-paid
work may also influence negatively family life.
 Nerves. Constant conflicts and, as a consequence, family breakdown.
 Adultery. Adultery is also a common cause of divorce.
 Lack of segregation of duties in the “male” and “female”. In modern society, the men do
not have any responsibilities, now women do most of their duties. Naturally such
inequality contributes to the emergence of conflicts that will inevitably lead to divorce.
 One of the reasons of divorce is that in fact woman is the head of the family, cause her
income is much bigger than her husband’s. Certainly not all men can accept with this fact
and file for divorce.
 The inability of a spouse to have children.
 DIVORCE CONSEQUENCES

What does divorce mean for the spouses? Divorce is a painful phenomenon, which leaves its
mark in a soul. It is always a catastrophe, a tragedy that knocks people out of normal life
sometimes even for years. Divorced people time to time miss their ex-wife or ex-husband, feel
anxiety despite the fact that they themselves were the initiators of divorce and considered their
family life unhappy. Even under the condition that the former spouses after divorce keep good
relationships with each other, for a child it is a tragedy for the whole life, as the child may be
perfectly happy only if he or she has both parents. Besides, it is a known fact that children of
divorced parents in adult life divorce more often than children raised in two-parent families.

Divorce is a process that harms child and damages the mental health. In addition, girls who grow
up without a father, often become man-hater. They compare all the men of their mom or their
boyfriends with their dads. A girl will be afraid that another mom marriage can bring suffering,
but she will not be able to help in this situation and will suffer even more, seeing her mother’s
tears. But it is very difficult to pretend strong, to keep your feelings, pretending that nothing
terrible has happened not to hurt child's soul.

Living in a one-parent family has a great influence on a discipline and identity formation of a
child. Usually kids of the divorced parents begin to misbehave, problems with their friends
appear, problems at school and so on. Big problems arise with the child, if at the time of divorce,
he is in the transitional age. With every action the child will express the protest against the
divorce. The anger to themselves and to others appears. The child starts to blame. Usually such a
condition passes in a year or two after divorce. But some children can not accept it and feel
lonely during 5 years after divorce or even more.

Psychological researches show that the 5-7-year-old children more acutely experience the
divorce of their parents, especially the boys. Girls acutely experience leave of their fathers at the
age of 2-5 years – a period of intense emotional development. Since the child is always between
the parents, regardless of whether they quarrel or divorce, the child will always suffer more than
his parents.
Divorced men are more likely to marry again than women. Although about 50 % of men can not
find their second half and remain single. Women usually marry again in 5 years after their
divorce. Divorced women are more careful, they need more time (5-10 years) to find a man and
get married again.

Due to the previous negative family experience most divorced men and women potentially
become supporters of extramarital sex, refusing to re-marriage because of fear that the same
story repeats.

So we can conclude that it is better to marry a good father of your future children, not the person
whom you love. Love can go away, and the children will remain forever. Therefore, before you
decide to take such an important step in the life, think thoroughly about the consequences.
 CAUSES OF DIVORCE
There are more and more couples who got married and then ended in love in today’s world. Most
of them choose divorce as a final solution to cancel legally the responsibilities of their marriages
because of they are unable to maintain their relationship. Financial problems, stress in modern
life and lack of communication are considered as three major causes of divorce. Couple often
face to fighting due to a reduction in on of the other partner’s income or the loss in the value of
assets, are forced to address the cruel reality that they can no longer afford to sustain their
present martial lifestyle and must cut back. Couples often end up having disputes over money. In
many cases on of the partners is invariably happy with the spending habits of the other
individual. This can result in massive fights. The fact that money is a issue among couples can be
seen these days.

The first significant cause of recent rise in the rates of divorce is that women completely change
in roles. In the past, men have to earn whole money to afford the expense of the family, whereas
women leading to depend on husband’s money. Because of these situations it is too difficult for
most women to separate from their husbands. These situations entirely changed nowadays. The
equality between men and women in roles are very clear at the moment, thus women can work
outside to earn money, while men share the household tasks such as cooking, cleaning, washing
as well as caring for children. It can be clearly seen that women are independent from money as
they can earn money by themselves to support their living cost. Accordingly, the divorce rates
recently rise.

Another cause to confirm the recent increase in divorce rates is stress in modern living. Many
people, who live in globalization, have considered pressures to earn money. It can be obviously
seen that the stress has occurred since they are children. Students generally want to go to good
schools so that they take advantage to go to well known universities. Studying in good
universities mostly cause having a good opportunity to find a job or earn a lot of money. Some
people are laid off from their companies, consequently the stress occurs in the family, which
leads to divorce. The rates of unemployment trend to continually increase as a result the divorce
rates can also rise.
The final cause of recently increasing divorce is lack of communication. Owing to financial
status in each family, many people are fairly busy. For this reason, they have inadequate time to
talk to the problems with their partners, which produces the likelihood of divorce. Some couple
often are quiet when they have problems with each other, as a consequence little problems can be
expanded to probably become huge problems, resulting in divorce. It is quite clear that the more
communications are used, the more divorce rates are reduced.
 EFFECTS OF DIVORCE

Effects of divorce on children:

Children can show negative feelings like:

 Fears of abandonment: They worry that their parents don't love them anymore and they
feel abandoned. They feel like the parent who left has divorced them too. .
 Anger: They feel angry although they may not express their anger.
 They often feel they are at fault. They may believe something they did or said caused a
parent to leave.
 Sadness and grief: Divorce is a loss in the lives of children and parents. They experience
a grieving process very similar to mourning a death.
 Blame and Guilt: Because so much marital conflict may be related to the stress of
parenting, children often feel responsible for their parents' divorce--they feel that
somehow their behavior contributed to it. This is especially true when parents fight
during exchanges of the children or in negotiating schedules: children see that parents are
fighting over them.
 Depression: Children exhibit more health, behavioral, and emotional problems, and they
are involved more frequently in crime and drug abuse, and have higher rates of suicide.
Three feelings that children can experience in a divorce:

 Parental loss: Divorce often results in the loss of contact with one parent and with this
loss children also lose the knowledge, skills and resources (emotional, financial, etc.) of
that parent.
 Economic loss: Another result of divorce is that children living in single parent families
are less likely to have as many economic resources as children living in intact families.
 More life stress: Divorce often results in many changes in children's living situations such
as changing schools, child care, homes, etc. Children often also have to make adjustments
to changes in relationships with friends and extended family members. These changes
create a more stressful environment for children.
 Effects of divorce on women:
 Women can experience the effects of divorce in different ways, for example: When
women lose their self esteem, women may be affected by feeling insecure. With no one
around to comfort them at such a crucial stage, a sense of insecurity and guilt overcomes
them. Women begin to blame themselves for all that has happened. As a result of which,
they suffer from depression. Women begin to question themselves about the challenges
that time has set for them. Another effect is the economic well-being, because in most of
the cases divorced women have a lower standard of living, and they are more likely to be
poor and to receive a public assistance, because woman does not work sometimes and as
a consequence, women depend on the men’s money.

 Effects of divorce on society:

 Divorce has great effects on society at large. According to an investigation, David
Blakenhorn in 1993 in his book “Perspectives on Fatherhood” when a divorce occurs in
the family, children are living with a single parent, and in most of the cases children live
with their mothers and there is an absence of father. This absence contributes to the
deterioration of the society to a large extent. One example of this deterioration is that
nowadays there is an increased youth crime rate in our society, because a single parent
can not work and take care of their children at the same time.
 According to sociologist Lenore Weitzman, divorced women get by on about 64% of the
income they had during marriage. For their children, this translates into less money for
school activities, clothes, opportunities for traveling and learning, day care and
sometimes food. Children can be called on to do adult tasks before they are ready, like
caring for younger siblings. Older children may be required to work long hours at a job to
help bring money to the family. As a result, they may fall behind in their school work.
After a while, the child may feel it is hopeless to try to keep up and decide to quit school
and to find easy way to get money. Also, it is important to mention, other effect of
divorce on society as a consequence to quit school, it is the use and abuse of drugs and
 children, according to the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth in USA. Certainly our
"fatherless society" cannot be blamed for all juvenile delinquency but it is a major
contributor for the drastic male role in our society, in which father can yield the power to
invoke fear among children. This sounds bad but it isn't. Of course, the father can be
friendly and loving but never underestimate the power of fear to keep them in line.

 Effects of divorce on education:

 Statistics tell us that more than half of all divorce cases involve children. But statistics
can't describe the emotional separation causes in kids. Newman elaborates: "Children in
separation or divorce often feel responsible. If no one tells them, for example, why the
break up happened they will think it's because of something they did. It's important to tell
them that they had nothing to do with it and that they are still loved by both parents.” One
area where the effects of divorce can be more obvious is in a child’s education. It’s for
this reason that children need to be reminded that divorce is an adult problem. Sometimes
a child’s marks may drop or they may begin acting out in class. Children exposed to
divorce are twice as likely to repeat a grade and five times likelier to be expelled or
suspended from school, for the impact of the divorce in their lives, they tend to be more
dependent, demanding, unaffectionate and disobedient than children from intact families.

 Effects of divorce on health:

 Two recent US study’s: one at Bowling green University in Ohio and the other at Mark
Hayword University in Texas are showing that for couples age 40 and over; a divorce
affects the overall health of the female.
 For females in the 40-and-over age group, a divorce can manifest itself with
cardiovascular problems.
 According to a report published in the Journal of marriage and Family, from 1992 to
2000, a group of nearly 9500 women from 51 to 61 years of age were given follow-up
interviews every two years. The results seem that the females in the test-group whether
divorced, widowed or re-married were more susceptible to cardiovascular disease than
their male counterparts. Studies reveals further that after 60 years of age, 33% of those
women divorced, 30% of those widowed and 315 of those re-married were suffering from
some serious cardiovascular problems.
LEGISLATIONS
On an all-India level, the Special Marriage Act was passed in 1954, is an inter-religious marriage
law permitting Indian nationals to marry and divorce irrespective of their religion or faith.
The Hindu Marriage Act, in 1955 which legally permitted divorce to Hindus and other
communities who chose to marry under these acts. The Indian Divorce Act 1869 is the law
relating to the divorce of person professing the Christian religion. Divorce can be sought by a
husband or wife on grounds including adultery, cruelty, desertion for two years, religious
conversion, mental abnormality, venereal disease, and leprosy. Divorce is also available based on
mutual consent of both the spouses, which can be filed after at least one year of separated living.
Mutual consent divorce can not be appealed, and the law mandates a minimum period of six
months (from the time divorce is applied for) for divorce to be granted. Contested divorce is
when one of the spouse is not willing to divorce the other spouse, under such condition the
divorce is granted only on certain grounds according to the Hindu marriage act of 1955. While a
Muslim husband can unilaterally bring an end to the marriage by pronouncing talaq Muslim
women must go to court, claiming any of the grounds provided under the Dissolution of Muslim
Marriage Act.

In the first major family law reform in the last decade, the Supreme Court of India banned the
Islamic practice of "Triple Talaq" (divorce by uttering of the "Talaq" word thrice by the
husband). The landmark Supreme Court of India judgment was welcomed by women activists
across India.

Official figures of divorce rates are not available, but it has been estimated that 1 in 100 or
another figure of 11 in 1,000 marriages in India end up in divorce.

Various communities are governed by specific marital legislation, distinct to Hindu Marriage
Act, and consequently have their own divorce laws:

 The Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936

 The Dissolution of Muslim Marriage act, 1939
 The Foreign Marriage Act, 1969
 The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986
An amendment to the marriage laws to allow divorce based on "irretrievable breakdown of
marriage" (as alleged by one of the spouses) is under consideration in India. In June 2010, the
Union Cabinet of India approved the Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill 2010, which, if cleared
by Parliament, would establish "irretrievable breakdown" as a new ground for divorce. Under the
proposed amendment, the court before proceeding to the merits of the case must be satisfied by
the evidences produced that parties have been living apart for a continuous period of not less
than three years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition.

CASE LAWS

1. S.R. Bomai v. Union of India: As per the Justice Jeevan Reddy, it was held that religion
is the matter of individual faith and cannot be mixed with secular activities and can be
regulated by the State by enacting a law

2. Mohd Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum: The SC speaking through Y.V.
Chandrachud, the then Chief Justice held that the Section 125 of the CrPC is applicable also to
the Muslims and that even a muslim husband is also liable to maintain his divorced wife beyond
the iddat period

3. Srinivasa Aiyar v. Saraswati Ammal: The High Court of Madras upheld the validity of
Madras Prohibition of Bigamy Act

4. Bai Tahira v. Ali Hussain Fissalli Chowthia: V. R. Krishna Iyer J. who is known to
have given a scintillating judgment in Bai Tahira v. Ali Hussain Fissalli Chowthia also has an
Ambedkarian view point on common civil code. Instead of being a majoritarian undertaking, the
common code is supposed to be a collection of the best from every system of personal laws

5. Daniel Latifi & other vs. Union of India: It was held by the Hon’ble Supreme Court
that clause (1-a) of section 3 does not limit the duty of the husband to pay maintenance only for
the period of iddat rather the duty is to make the necessary arrangements within the iddat period
but the arrangements has to be made for the entire life of the wife until she gets remarried.
6. Sarla Mudgal vs. Union of India and Others: The Hon’ble Supreme Court has resolved
the issue by saying that if there if a controversy between two personal laws then such law should
prevail which is serving the purpose best. So, it was held that a conversion to Islam does not
amount to automatic dissolution of the marriage performed under Hindu law.
 SUMMARY
People value loyalty and trust greatly and they are the two main pillars of a marriage. Therefore
if a partner fails to satisfy any one of these qualities, it is likely to create problems in the couples
married life, people become more suspicious about their spouse and this may ultimately lead to
divorce. The research also shows that people do not live with their elders anymore. This means
that when the couples have annargument or misunderstanding, there is no third party to make
them realize where they have gone wrong.
This results in the couples blaming each other rather than accepting their own mistakes.
The obtained result for married people, which asks “how often they argue”, shows that most
couples face problems and disagree on matters very often. This is how problems develop
between them, and later lead to greater problems. And also there was very alarming and
surprising amount of people who said that considered ending their their marriage. In today’s
urbanized society, adultery is a very common practice, as people visit more places and come
across more people, their loyalty towards their partner is threatened.
For couples to be happy together, it is very important that they are compatible, a lack of
compatibility is a major cause behind divorce, because this creates rift between them. Physical
abuse is not a common practice in urban couples, however it is a major cause of divorce in rural
areas where men abuse their wives, but in urban areas, abuse is present in the form of mental
abuse, where one tortures his/her partner mentally, for example: by blaming them all the time
and so on. Drinking and smoking are widespread problems nowadays due to increased levels of
stress; this is one reason that stimulates divorce.
 RECOMMENDATIONS
• Talking over or getting professional help to overcome the problems should be
given preference.

• Greater awareness about the seriousness of the decision.

• External help: marriage counseling, psychiatrists etc.

• To keep trying.

• They should communicate more.

• Making adjustments and required changes.

• Compromising is sometimes the only solution

 CONCLUSION
This paper is an attempt to critically examine the Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage Bill,
2010. Irretrievable breakdown theory is still not a separate ground for divorce under section 13
of Hindu Marriage Act and under section-24 of Special Marriage Act. Marriage is, no doubt, an
individual relationship, but more than that it is a social institution having complex social
dimensions. The true happiness that the institution of marriage can bestow upon a man/woman is
found only in the continued pursuit of harmony by a couple. The imprudent and unguided
divorce law may finish all that is good in marriage institution. Even if we take marriage as a
mere contract, it cannot be said that it is the parties whose interest have to be considered in
divorce proceedings. It is larger social interest which should be put above the individual interest
of parties. Apart from this if we look at world we found most of the developed countries of the
world have recognized irretrievable breakdown of marriage as an independent ground of divorce.
So the need of the hour is that Indianlegislator’s must show their competence and to fulfill the
need of the people they must come up with appropriate legislation on the aforesaid topic. The
Law Commission of India in its 71st and 217th reportrecommended amendments in the Hindu
Marriage Act by suggesting irretrievable breakdown of marriage as a new ground for granting
divorce among the Hindus. Supreme Courthas fragmented opinion on this topic. But In the light
of Article-142 of the Constitution of India, when there is situation of irretrievable breakdown of
marriage then supreme court can pass the decree for the dissolution of the marriage in order to do
complete justice between the parties in aid of the power conferred under Article-142 of the
constitution of India.

We can also see the intent of legislator’s after the 71st and 217threport from the law commission
of India supporting irretrievable breakdown as a ground for divorce.So, The Marriage Laws
(Amendment) Bill, 2010proposes to make the following amendments:-

(a) To insert section 13C in the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and section 28A in the Special
Marriage Act, 1954 to provide for divorce on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage.

(b) To insert section 13D in the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and section 28B in the Special
Marriage Act, 1954 to provide for a right to wife to oppose the petition for divorce on account of
irretrievable breakdown of marriage on the grounds of grave financial hardship.
(c) To insert section 13E in the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and section 28C in the Special
Marriage Act, 1954 to ensure provision of adequate maintenance to children born out of the
marriage consistently with the financial capacity of such parties.

Apart from this, In case of no fault theory of divorce, it is not necessary to prove which party is
at fault. There may be many reasons based on which sweetness of matrimonial relationship is at
risk. If the parties prove with reliable evidence on record that their marriage is beyond all
possible repairs then law should understand the reality of the facts and should help the parties to
the marriagewhich has broken down irretrievably.1Therefore, once this bill will become Act, all
those suggested changes will pave the way in Hindu Marriage Act and in the provision of Special
Marriage Act supporting Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage as permanent ground for seeking
divorce.Hence, it is clear note after this paper that law of divorce under scrutiny in all the legal
systems of the world. Divorce laws has been reformed in such a way that the married couples
who desired to divorce have less legal troubles and get quick legal remedy.Therefore, it is
evident that the judiciary has taken a serious note of irretrievable breakdown of marriage as an
independent ground of divorce and has been serving the needy but only in the limited number of
cases as it is not possible for all litigants’ spouses to afford to reach up to the Supreme Court. On
the other hand the legislatures are slipping without taking the care of the need of the our of those
people whom they are representing. So, It is high time that the Government should recognize the
need of the hour and save many couples from disgrace and humiliation by introducing
irretrievable breakdown of marriage as a separate ground of divorce in Section 13 of the Hindu
Marriage Act 1955 and Under section 24 of the Special Marriage Act.

1
Vijender Kumar, “Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage :Right of a Married Couple”, NALSAR Law Review, Vol-5,
2010, p 36.
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