Section 10 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, addresses judicial separation among Hindu couples. Judicial separation is a legal process where spouses live apart without dissolving the marriage. Either spouse can file a petition for judicial separation in the District Court on grounds specified in Section 13(1) (grounds for divorce), and wives may also invoke grounds under Section 13(2).
Who can file a petition under Section 10 of Hindu Marriage Act
- Any couple who has solemnised their marriage under the customary Hindu laws.
- Any spouse aggrieved can file a petition in a District Court under Section 10 for judicial separation.
- Unlike divorce, it is not required for the parties to live together for a period of one year. Judicial separation can be sought at any time during the marriage.
Grounds for filing a petition:
- For both spouses:
- Adultery
- Cruelty
- Conversion to another religion
- Unsoundness of mind
- Incurable venereal disease
- Desertion for at least two years
- Renunciation of the world
- Presumption of death (spouse not heard of for seven years)
- Additional grounds for wives (under Section 13(2)):
- Husband has married again during the subsistence of the first marriage (bigamy).
- Husband guilty of rape, sodomy, or bestiality.
- Marriage solemnized before she turned 15 years of age, and she repudiates it before the age of 18.
Both parties can apply if any of these conditions are met, and the court will decide based on the evidence provided.
Once a decree for judicial separation is granted, cohabitation is no longer obligatory. The court may rescind the decree if it deems it just and reasonable upon application by either party.
Judicial separation differs from divorce in that it does not dissolve the marriage, allowing for the possibility of reconciliation. It can be sought at any time during the marriage, without the need for a prior period of cohabitation.
In short, the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, provides legal remedies like judicial separation, divorce, and annulment to address marital disputes. It ensures fairness, equality, and the protection of individual rights while preserving the sanctity of marriage.
What is Section 10 of Hindu Marriage Act 1955?
10. Judicial separation.-
(1) Either party to a marriage, whether solemnized before or after the commencement of this Act, may present a petition to the district court praying for a decree for judicial separation on the ground that the other party-
(a) has deserted the petitioner for a continuous period of not less than two years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition; or
(b) has treated the petitioner with such cruelty as to cause a reasonable apprehension in the mind of the petitioner that it will be harmful or injurious for the petitioner to live with the other party; or
(c) has, for a period of not less than one year immediately preceding the presentation of the petition, been suffering from a virulent form of leprosy; or
(d) has, immediately before the presentation of the petition, been suffering from venereal disease in a communicable form, the disease not having been contracted from the petitioner; or
(e) has been continuously of unsound mind for a period of not less than two years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition; or
(f) has, after the solemnization of the marriage, had sexual intercourse with any person other than his or her spouse.
Explanation.- In this section, the expression “desertion”, with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means the desertion of the petitioner by the other party to the marriage without reasonable cause and without the consent or against the wish of such party, and includes the willful neglect of the petitioner by the other party to the marriage.
(2) Where a decree for judicial separation has been passed, it shall no longer be obligatory for the petitioner to cohabit with the respondent, but the court may, on the application by petition of either party and on being satisfied of the truth of the statements made in such petition, rescind the decree if it considers it just and reasonable to do so.
