Kerala High Court downplays provision of Divorce Act 1869 that required a minimum of one year of separation before requesting divorce by mutual consent . The same court modified it in 2010 to one year, putting it in line with other statutes concerning matrimony and divorce .
Kochi (Kolkata): The Kerala High Court has downplayed a provision of the Divorce Act 1869, which was enacted to Christians, that required a minimum of one year of separation before requesting divorce by mutual consent, but the same court modified it in 2010 to one year.This puts it in line with other statutes concerning matrimony and divorce, including the Special Marriage Act and the Hindu Marriage Act.Since neither party has lapsed since marriage, those laws allow courts to entertain mutual-consent divorce petitions, so there cannot be this one-year period in the Divorce Act alone, as the court has ruled.