Special Marriage Act Case Study

INTRODUCTION

The Special Marriage Act, 1954 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted to provide a special form of marriage for the people of India and all Indian nationals in foreign countries, irrespective of the religion or faith followed by either party. The Act originated from a piece of legislation proposed during the late 19th century.

In 1872 Act III, 1872 was enacted but later it was found inadequate for certain desired reforms, and Parliament enacted a new legislation. Henry Sumner Maine first introduced Act III of 1872, which would permit any dissenters to marry whomever they chose under a new civil marriage law. In the final wording, the law sought to legitimize marriages for those willing to renounce their profession of faith

Has failed to comply with a decree for restitution of conjugal rights for one year or more.

SPECIAL GROUNDS FOR WIFE:

1. Husband being guilty of rape, sodomy or bestiality.

2. Though order for separate maintenance was passed against husband, he has not resumed cohabitation for one year or upwards.

C) DIVORCE BY MUTUAL CONSENT:

Divorce is possible under the Special Marriage Act, 1954 by mutual consent. If the husband and wife are living separately for one year or more and are not able to live together, then they may mutually agree that the marriage should be dissolved. A petition for divorce may be presented by both the parties stating these facts. Then they should wait for 6 months. Thereafter before the expiry of 18 months from the petition, they should jointly move the Court for a decree. The Court may, thereupon, pass a decree declaring the marriage to be dissolved with effect from the date of the decree. No petition for divorce can be presented unless at the date of the presentation of the petition one year has passed since the date of entering the certificate of marriage in the Marriage Certificate Book (Section 29). In case of exceptional hardship this rule may be relaxed by the

The Amending legislation of 1976 removed the divergences and assimilated these provisions. Thus divorce by mutual consent previously available only under the Special Marriage Act has been applied also to the Hindu Marriage Act. The period of time over which a disability should have extended has either omitted altogether (e.g. virulent leprosy and communicable venerable disease: period of 3 years omitted) or has been uniformly reduced to the same period under both Acts (e.g. non-compliance with decree for restitution of conjugal rights; non-resumption of cohabitation after passing of decree for judicial separation); 2 years period reduced to 1 year; Desertion: Period reduced from 3 years to 2 years (under Special Marriage Act). To both Acts new grounds are added which are especially available to the wife; e.g. non-cohabitation for 1 year after decree for separate maintenance under Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act or