A joint petition by both, the husband and the wife may be placed before the court jointly on the ground that they have been staying separately for the last one year or more, that they cannot stay together any more due to incompatibility and they have mutually agreed to dissolve the marriage. After a petition for divorce under mutual consent is filed, it is kept in abeyance for a mandatory period of 6 – 18 months, primarily to ensure that the limits of amicable settlement have been overrun by both the parties. Thereafter the court, after being fully satisfied, calls both the petitioners and passes a decree pf divorce.
Scope and effect
Where the three following ingredients are fulfilled, a divorce by mutual consent cannot be denied.
The parties must be staying / living separately for a period of 1 year or more
Must have mental incompatibility
Must have mutually agreed to dissolve the marriage
The parties are also given a time within which, if they decide, can withdraw their petition. If they donot withdraw the petition then within 6 months and upto a maximum of 18 months, the court passes a decree of divorce on mutual consent. The court needs to be completely convinced that there is no fraud and undue influence in the case. Under section 13B of the Hindu marriage Act, 1955, cohabitation, which is an essential ingredient of a valid and subsisting marriage has come to an end because of the complete non existence of the matrimonial relationship
Today caste is a more special combination than a religious group. Caste has become an integral feature of the Hindu society because religion has mingled with society.
