Judicial separation

According to sections 10 and 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 either party to a marriage may present a petition for a decree for judicial separation on any of the following grounds:

1. that the other party has, after the solemnization of the marriage had voluntary sexual intercourse with any person other than his or her spouse

2. that the other partythat the other party has, after the solemnization of the marriage, treated the petitioner with cruelty

3. that the other party has deserted the petitioner for a continuous period of not less than two years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition

4. that the other party has ceased to be a Hindu by conversion to another religion has been incurably of unsound mind, or has 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.
"Mental disorder" means mental illness, arrested or incomplete development of mind, psychopathic disorder or any other disorder or disability of mind and include 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 other party and whether or not it requires or is susceptible to medical treatment.

5. that the other partythat the other party has been suffering from a virulent and incurable form of leprosy

6. that the other party has been suffering from venereal disease in a communicable form

7. that the other party has renounced the world by entering any religious orderhas 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
"Desertion" means the 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 willful neglect of the petitioner by the other party to the marriage, and its grammatical variations and cognate expression shall be construed accordingly.

In addition to this, a wife alive at the time of the presentation of the petition may also present a petition on any of these grounds:

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

b) that in the case of any marriage solemnized before the commencement of this Act, that the husband had married again before the 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

c) that in a suit under Section 18 of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956, or in a proceeding under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 or under 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

d) that her marriage (whether consummated or not) was solemnized before she attained the age of fifteen years and she has repudiated the marriage after attaining that age but before attaining the age of eighteen years. This clause applies whether the marriage was solemnized before or after the commencement of the Marriage Law (Amendment) Act, 1976.

Where a decree for judicial separation has been passed, it shall no longer be obligatory for the petitioner to cohabit with the respondent, but the court may, on the application by petition of either party and on being satisfied of the truth of the statement made in such petition, rescind the decree if it considers it just and reasonable to do so.