Petition for divorce by mutual consent under the Divorce Act, 1869

A petition for divorce by mutual consent is presented by both parties to the marriage together, to the district court, on the three grounds the section states, and is decided on a second motion made by both parties inside the window the Act fixes. The Act states who presents it, where, what it must state and how it is verified; the form it takes is a matter for the rules of the court it goes to.

What such a document contains

It is presented by both parties to the marriage together
The section provides for the petition to be presented to the district court by both the parties to the marriage togetherSection 10A(1), Divorce Act, 1869
It states the three grounds the section names
That the parties have been living separately for the period the section states, that they have not been able to live together, and that they have mutually agreed that the marriage should be dissolvedSection 10A(1), Divorce Act, 1869
The district court it is presented to
The court of the District Judge — a judge of a principal civil court of original jurisdiction, however designated — within the local limits of whose ordinary jurisdiction, or of whose jurisdiction under the Act, the marriage was solemnised, or the husband and wife reside or last resided togetherSection 10A(1) read with Section 3(2) and 3(3), Divorce Act, 1869
It states that there is no collusion or connivance
Every petition under the Act for a decree of dissolution of marriage states that there is not any collusion or connivance between the petitioner and the other party to the marriageSection 47, Divorce Act, 1869
Its statements are verified as a plaint's are
The statements in the petition are verified by the petitioner, or some other competent person, in the manner the law requires for the verification of plaints, and may be referred to as evidence at the hearingSection 47, Divorce Act, 1869
The particulars of the marriage and of the parties
When and where the marriage was solemnised, and the names and addresses of the parties. Such petitions carry these; no section read for this section prescribes the listConvention rather than law
The terms the parties have agreed on
Maintenance, the custody of children and the return of property are conventionally set out where the parties have settled them. The section requires mutual agreement that the marriage be dissolved and nothing about its termsConvention rather than law

The periods that attach to it

  • The decree is passed on a motion by both parties made inside the window the section fixes after the petition is presented, if the petition has not been withdrawn in the meantime. — Section 10A(2), Divorce Act, 1869

Not established

  • The Act states who presents the petition, to which court, what it must state and how it is verified. It also sets out forms in a Schedule of its own, which may be used, and leaves the rules for proceedings under it to the High Court of the State. Neither that Schedule nor any High Court's rules are described here.

What this guide is not

Of the points listed below, five are fixed by the Divorce Act, 1869 itself and two are convention — such documents carry them, and no provision read for this section requires them. This is a description of a kind of document and not a document — confirm the contents of any document in a particular matter with an advocate.

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