All Christians are governed by the Indian Divorce Act, 1869. Under the Act both husband and wife can obtain a divorce, but there is a great difference between the rights of the husband and the wife. The husband can obtain a divorce if the wife has committed adultery.
Important Grounds
(a) Husband’s conversion from Christianity and marriage another woman.
(b) Incestuous adultery.
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(c) Bigamy with adultery.
(d) Marriage with other women with adultery.
(e) Rape; sodomy or bestiality.
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(f) Adultery with cruelty.
(g) Adultery with desertion.
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Thus the wife has to prove two offences by the husband before she can obtain a divorce.
The law is so outdated that the need for revision has been felt for quite some time. The government, realising the need for reform, referred the matter to the Law Commission in i960. The Commission prepared a Draft Bill.
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The Christian Marriage and Matrimonial Causes Bill, 1960, contains almost all the grounds included for divorce under the Special Marriage Act, 1954, such as desertion, cruelty, adultery, leprosy, venereal disease, conversion to another religion, and willful refusal to consummate the marriage.
Further, either party to a marriage can also obtain a decree of judicial separation on any of the grounds mentioned for divorce.
We regret that in spite of these preparatory steps, no action to enact this measure has been by the government so far and recommend that no further time be lost to reform and amend this law on the lines suggested by the Law Commission.