The Union Cabinet on June 10 approved the introduction of Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010 to further amend the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and the Special Marriage Act, 1954, to include ‘irretrievable breakdown’ of marriage as another ground for obtaining divorce.

At present under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 a divorce can be claimed under Section 13 on grounds of adultery, cruelty, desertion, conversion to another religion, unsound mind, virulent and incurable form of leprosy, disease in communicable form, renouncement of the world and not being heard of alive for a period of seven years or more. Under Section 13(b) divorce is granted by mutual consent.

Under the Special Marriage Act, 1954, divorce can be granted under Section 27 on grounds similar to those of Section 13 (Hindu Marriage Act, 1955). Section 28 grants divorce on the grounds of living separately for one year or more or they are not able to live together and mutually agree that marriage should be dissolved.

The problem surfaces when couples apply for divorce through mutual consent. Either spouse may suffer due to one of them abstaining himself or herself from court proceedings and thus keeping the trial inconclusive.

The press release by the Law Ministry said that this amendment has been recommended by the Law Commission of India in its 217^th Report on ‘irretrievable breakdown of marriage- another ground for divorce’ and on observations made by the Hon’ble Supreme Court, in the case of Jorden Diengdeh vs. S.S. Chopra and Naveen Kohli vs. Neelu Kohli.

Geeta Luthra, Senior Advocate says, “Irretrievable breakdown would be great for a small proportion of the elite population. It’s definitely the way for the future but it gives a complete 360-degree to the concept of marriage among Hindus being sacred. If it means consensual divorce without waiting for six months under current law its very welcome. The one-year moratorium for filing for divorce should also be done away with. Vast majority of Hindu women in India i.e. rural, semi-literate need to be protected in matrimony and they could be affected by a unilateral irretrievable breakdown clause”.

Dr. Purnima Singh, Psychologist, IIT Delhi says, “As a psychologist and a social scientist I feel marriage as an institution is one of the strengths of our society. It gives a kind of stability in personal relationships, which in turn is the crucible for long-term happiness and well-being. I do understand that the present amendment is to relax the conservative approach to matrimonial disputes; but I also feel that the youth today are becoming unrestrained in their personal and social relationships especially in urban areas and lack the patience that is needed in building relationships.”

She adds that there are chances of this being misused if it is made a law. “Too much of freedom is not good. The value of stable relationships should be emphasized and community based efforts are needed to make today's youth appreciate the benefit of stable relationships. Such a provision (the present amendment) should be allowed under very special circumstances with both female and male being allowed to go in for it especially when other efforts fail. This amendment does reflect the urban reality but while making these amendments we forget that a large population in India is still in the villages where despite governmental efforts large number of people are illiterate. Do we look at this reality when we go for these amendments? What effect such amendments will bring on the society should be considered.”

When compared to the Western world, divorce rates in India is about 1 percent while 40 percent of all marriages in the US end up in a divorce. This is also because the ease of availability of divorce, in many states in the United States, is between 24 hours to 96 hours while in India the process of obtaining a divorce by mutual consent takes years if not decades in some cases. With this change in legislation, the Government has made it easy and less burdensome for the courts to clear divorce proceedings.