IRRETRIEVABLE BREAKDOWN OF MARRIAGE AS A GROUND OF DIVORCE

A CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

The marriage in the Indian society is considered as a sacrament and the spouses are required to maintain this marital knot during their life. However, sometimes the marriage between the parties does not sustain. In these circumstances, Hindu Marriage Act provides for ground of divorce, however, the grounds are majorly based on the fault of one of the parties. Sometimes, there may be situations where the marriage is not workable at all and that is not due to fault of either party. Such situation is described as Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage and it has not been statutorily recognised as ground of divorce by the legislature till now. However, the Hon’ble SC has in catena of judgements has granted divorce to the parties on the ground of irretrievable ground of marriage in order to complete justice and to mitigate the sufferings of the parties. However, at the international level the prevailing situation is somewhat different as it has been recognised by various countries as a ground of divorce. In view of peculiar socio-cultural factors prevailing in Indian society, this work discusses whether irretrievable breakdown of marriage should be statutorily recognised as a ground of dissolution of marriage between the parties. It also discusses the reasoning behind the supreme court judgements granting divorce on this ground and what is the stance of the government in this regard. It also discusses the challenges and the way forward in recognising such a ground for dissolution of marriage between the parties.

; Divorce Law in India; Hindu Marriage Act, 1955; Fault Theory; No-Fault Divorce; Judicial Activism; Article 142; Marriage Dissolution.