Statutory framework

Divorce is regulated by the religion of the parties: Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains by the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955; civil/inter-religion marriages by the Special Marriage Act, 1954; Muslims by the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939 and Shariat (with the 2019 Act on triple talaq); Christians by the Indian Divorce Act, 1869. The Family Court at Kota constituted under the Family Courts Act, 1984 has exclusive jurisdiction over all matrimonial matters in the district.

Mutual consent divorce — fastest route

Under Section 13-B of the HMA (or Section 28 SMA), both spouses jointly petition the Family Court declaring they have lived separately for 1 year and cannot live together. After a statutory cooling period — earlier 6 months minimum, now waivable per Amardeep Singh v. Harveen Kaur (2017) 8 SCC 746 — the court grants the decree. In appropriate cases the Supreme Court has even granted divorce directly under Article 142 on “irretrievable breakdown” — Shilpa Shailesh v. Varun Sreenivasan (2023).

Contested divorce — grounds

Section 13(1) HMA lists grounds: cruelty (physical or mental), desertion (continuous 2 years), adultery, conversion, mental disorder, incurable disease, renunciation and presumption of death. The Supreme Court has progressively widened mental cruelty — see Samar Ghosh v. Jaya Ghosh (2007) 4 SCC 511 — to include sustained vulgar abuse, refusal of sex, false allegations and unilateral abortion. The wife has additional grounds under Section 13(2).

Maintenance, alimony, custody, property

In every divorce we plead in parallel: maintenance under Section 24/25 HMA, Section 144 BNSS (earlier 125 CrPC) and the PWDV Act; child custody under the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 plus Section 26 HMA; stridhan recovery under Section 27 HMA; and division of jointly held assets. The Supreme Court in Rajnesh v. Neha (2021) 2 SCC 324 prescribed mandatory affidavits of assets in every maintenance matter.

Local practice at Family Court Kota

The Family Court is at Civil Lines, Kota. Mediation under Section 9 of the Family Courts Act is routine and often resolves matters in 3–6 sittings. Contested divorces take 2–5 years; mutual consent takes 6 months (or less if cooling period is waived). All matrimonial proceedings are held in-camera and there is no advocate appearance as of right under Section 13 of the Family Courts Act — leave of the court is needed and almost always granted.