If a marriage is solemnized under the Special Marriage Act, 1954, a divorce can be obtained in terms of Section 27 of the same Act which spells out the grounds of divorce.

1. It says that a petition for divorce may be presented to the Court by either spouse on the ground that the other spouse:
2. has committed adultery or
3. has deserted the petitioner for a continuous period of not less than two years immediately proceeding the presentation of the petition or
4. is undergoing a sentence of imprisonment for seven years or more for an offence as defined in the Indian Penal Code or
5. has since the solemnization of the marriage treated the petitioner with cruelty or
6. has been incurably of unsound mind, or has been suffering continuously or intermittently from mental disorder of such a kind, and to such an extent that the petitioner cannot reasonably be expected to live with the respondent or

(’Mental disorder’ means mental illness, arrested or incomplete development of mind, psychopathic disorder or any other disorder or disability of mind and includes schizophrenia.

‘Psychopathic disorder’ means a persistent disorder or disability of mind (whether or not including sub-normality of intelligence) which results in abnormally aggressive or seriously irresponsible conduct on the part of the respondent and whether or not it requires or is susceptible to medical treatment.)

7. has been suffering from venereal disease in a communicable form or
8. has been suffering from leprosy, the disease not having been contracted from the petitioner or
9. 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 the respondent if the respondent had been alive.

‘Desertion’ means 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 wilful neglect of the petitioner by the other party to the marriage.

Further, either party to a marriage, whether solemnized before or after the commencement of the Special Marriage (Amendment) Act, 1970, may present a petition for divorce to the Court on the ground:

1. that there has been no resumption of cohabitation as between the parties to the marriage for a period of one year or upwards after the passing of a decree for judicial separation in a proceeding to which they were parties or
2. that there has been no restitution of conjugal rights as between the parties to the marriage for a period of one year or upwards after the passing of a decree for restitution of conjugal rights in a proceeding to which they were parties.

In addition to these grounds of divorce, there are some grounds on which only a wife may present a petition for divorce. They are:

1. that her husband has, since the solemnization of the marriage, been guilty of rape, sodomy or bestiality
2. that in a suit for maintenance under Section 18 of the Hindus Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956, or in a proceeding under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, or under the corresponding Section 488 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, a decree or order, as the case may be, has been passed against the husband awarding maintenance to the wife notwithstanding that she was living apart and that since the passing of such decree or order, cohabitation between the parties has not been resumed for one year or upwards.

The Section speaks of the divorce petition being presented to the District Court. However, under the Family Courts Act, 1984, the petition is to be presented to the Family Court unless there is no Family Court which has been established at the place where the petition is presented.

The Special Marriage Act is the only statute which makes the imprisonment of one spouse a ground on which the other spouse can obtain a divorce.