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Wife doesn't want divorce. Procedure to divorce without her consent?


09-Jun-2023 (In Divorce Law)

What Should I do for Annulment of my marriage and how many days will it take? Now my wife is not giving her consent to divorce whereas I want to give divorce to her and marry my lover. 

 

Is it possible to give my wife divorce without her consent? Please tell the procedure and methods to follow. I have been married for a year.

 

Answers (1)

Answer #1
159 votes

First of all, please understand that there is a difference between annulment and divorce. Annulment is a legal procedure for declaring a marriage null and void. 

A marriage can be declared null and void if certain legal requirements were not met at the time of the marriage. If these legal requirements were not met then the marriage is considered to have never existed in the eyes of the law. This process is called annulment. 

It is very different from divorce in that while a divorce dissolves a marriage that has existed, a marriage that is annulled never existed at all. Thus unlike divorce, it is retroactive: an annulled marriage is considered never to have existed.

For annulment of marriage, you may file an petition under Section 12 of Hindu Marriage Act 1955 (assuming you are hindu). The grounds on which you can file annulment are mentioned herein below:

The grounds for a marriage annulment may vary according to the different legal jurisdictions, but are generally limited to fraud, bigamy, blood relationship and mental incompetence including the following:

1) Either spouse was already married to someone else at the time of the marriage in question;

2) Either spouse was too young to be married, or too young without required court or parental consent. (In some cases, such a marriage is still valid if it continues well beyond the younger spouse's reaching marriageable age);

3) Either spouse was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the marriage;

4) Either spouse was mentally incompetent at the time of the marriage;

5) If the consent to the marriage was based on fraud or force;

6) Either spouse was physically incapable to be married (typically, chronically unable to have sexual intercourse) at the time of the marriage;

7) The marriage is prohibited by law due to the relationship between the parties. This is the "prohibited degree of consanguinity", or blood relationship between the parties. The most common legal relationship is 2nd cousins; the legality of such relationship between 1st cousins varies around the world;

In view of aforesaid, if your case falls within above mentioned ground then you may seek a decree of annulment.

Further as you mentioned, that your wife is not willing to give divorce by mutual consent. Then the option available with you is to file petition under Section 13 of Hindu Marriage Act 1955. The grounds are reproduced here under for your better understanding:

1) Any marriage solemnized, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, may, on a petition presented by either the husband or the wife, be dissolved by a decree of divorce on the ground that the other party:-

i) is living in adultery; or

ii) has ceased to be a Hindu by conversion to another religion; or

iii) has been incurably of unsound mind for a continuous period of not less than three years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition; or

iv) has, for a period of not less than three years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition, been suffering from a virulent and incurable form of leprosy; or

v) had, for a period of not less than three years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition, been suffering from venereal disease in a communicable form; or

vi) has renounced the world by entering any religious order; or

vii) has not been heard of as being alive for a period of seven years or more by those persons who would naturally have heard of it, had that party been alive; or

viii) has not resumed cohabitation for a space of two years or upwards after the passing of a decree for judicial separation against that party; or

ix) has failed to comply with a decree for restitution of conjugal rights for a period of two years or upwards after the passing of the decree.

(2) A wife may also present a petition for the dissolution of her marriage by a decree of divorce on the ground:-

i) in the case of any marriage solemnized before the commencement of this Act, that the husband had married again before such commencement or that any other wife of the husband married before such commencement was alive at the time of the solemnization of the marriage of the petitioner:

Provided that in either case the other wife is alive at the time of the presentation of the petition; or

ii) that the husband has, since the solemnization of the marriage, been guilty of rape, sodomy or bestiality.

Depending on the facts of your case, you  may file petition on any of the above mentioned ground and seek divorce.

Kindly contact us for any further details and action. 


Procedure to file for divorce without mutual consent can be learnt with the help of this Indian Divorce Law Guide

Disclaimer: The above query and its response is NOT a legal opinion in any way whatsoever as this is based on the information shared by the person posting the query at lawrato.com and has been responded by one of the Divorce Lawyers at lawrato.com to address the specific facts and details.

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