Rajesh Tandon 11 July 2020

Judicial seperation under sec10 of Hindu marriage Act

A lot of times it is said that seeking Judicial seperation is a stage prior to Divorce under sec 13 of Hindu marriage Act. The grounds for the Judicial seperation being nearly the same as for Divorce. However, if a woman wants to save her marriage for the sake of her children & to avoid Social stigma of Divorce , can she continue staying permanently under judicial seperation especially if the Acts committed by Husband fall under DV Act 2005 on account of her being subjected to frequent verbal & economic abuse, adultry and committing mental cruelity apart from facing cruelty under sec 498 A IPC. The problem gets aggravated with increased age of woman when she can not enter into another relationship but want to save marriage by staying separately for sake of children, to avoid abusive husband and his family,children education, her own monetry/ social security which she still gets by being a legally wedded wife in Judicial separation as against Divorce when the relationship is permanently Terminated.

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Prakriti Rastogi 11 July 2020

Yes, It has been rightly mentioned by you that judicial separation is a stage prior to Divorce under section 13.
Judicial separation under section 10 can be taken recourse to incase the parties do not wish to be separated by a decree of divorce.
The parties under judicial separation will not cohabit with one another, though will continue to be married.
The parties can stay under the decree of Judicial separation permanently, unless the other party files a petition in Court, and the Court on certain considerations may cancel the decree and ask the parties to go back to living together.
To seek judicial separation under section 10, any of the grounds mentioned under Section 13 can be taken. Since, You have expressly mentioned DV Act and section 498-A, the acts will fall under section 13, subsection 1, clause (ia)- cruelty.
The cruelty mentioned can be bot physical or mental.
The wife can also move a plea asking for maintenance. The Court will also decide custody matters of children.
The positive feature of Judicial Separation is that it gives the chance to parties to reconcile.

Rajesh Tandon 11 July 2020

Thx a ton for your promptness and comprehensive comments. I think in the given set of circumstances this is the best option for a wife who wants to save the marriage, yet can not bear the agony of abuse and cruelty.