Mutual Consent’ is what gets you divorce in the fastest way in India

There was a time when India used to have the lowest percentage of divorce in the whole world. In a society that is based on values, social compulsions and religious beliefs, no couple, who got once married, was socially entitled to seek divorce from each other. But with the socio economic changes and the growing level of education, various legal reforms empowered particularly the women to come out of the relationship that she is finding unsuitable or uncomfortable.

It was the effect of globalisation that impacted the traditional values of so called orthodox Indian society. The couples working in metro cities got profound exposures to better options and got opportunity to come out of unequal marriages. Needless to say that divorce procedure in India still continues to be a hassled matter that causes great frustration and monetary wastage. However with some legal reforms that were initiated to resolve family disputes in a speedy way, have surely comforted the couples, particularly when they make up their mind to take divorce by mutual consent.

The process of mutual divorce starts with filing a petition accompanied by affidavits from both the partners in the Family Court. This filing, is known as First Motion, in which both the parties give joint statement explaining that their relationship has gone to the bitterest level and there are no possibilities of any kind of reconciliations. After six months of the first motion, both the partners have to reappear in the court and the Judge makes decision after hearing their final statements.

Some of the grounds on which a divorce can be filed:

1. If anyone of the two is having sexual intercourse with any outer source after marriage.
2. If anyone of the two is behaving in a callous and cruel way to his/her partner after marriage.
3. If anyone of the two is having any unsoundness of mind that is medically incurable.
4. Another ground is mutual consent, but it should not be a forced one in any way, it should be submitted only after six months of marriage.

To make things easier, in a revolutionary decision in the year 2012, the Supreme Course of India gave a ruling that no waiting period of 6 months is necessary if the ground for divorce is mutual consent. But the ruling was immensely opposed by the women forums across the nation, and as a result, the bill was again reproduced with some more safeguards for women. On the whole, the legal system is now improved enough to deliver justice to those couples who are forced to live in an unequal marriage.