law: Special Marriage Act, 1954 
  27. Divorce
   21  (1) Subject to the
  
  provisions of this Act and to the rules made thereunder, a petition for divorce
  
  may be presented to the district court either by the husband or he wife on the ground
  
  that the respondent-
   22  [(a) has, after the solemnization of he
  
  marriage, had voluntary sexual intercourse with any person other than his or
  
  her spouse; or
  (b) has deserted the petitioner for a continuous
  
  period of not less than two years immediately preceding the presentation of the
  
  petition; or]
  (c) is undergoing a sentence of imprisonment
  
  for seven years or more for an offence as defined in the Indian Penal Code ;
   23  [***]
  (d) has since the solemnization of the
  
  marriage treated the petitioner with cruelty; or
   24  [(e) has been incurably of unsound mind, or
  
  has been suffering continuously or intermittently from mental disorder of such
  
  a kind and to such an extent that the petitioner cannot reasonably be expected
  
  to live with the respondent.
  Explanation.- In this clause,-
  (a) the expression "mental disorder"
  
  means mental illness, arrested or incomplete development of mind, psychopathic
  
  disorder or any other disorder or disability of mind and includes
  
  schizophrenia;
  (b) the expression "psychopathic
  
  disorder." means a persistent disorder or disability of mind (whether or
  
  not including sub-normality of intelligence) which results in abnormally
  
  aggressive or seriously irresponsible conduct on the part of the respondent,
  
  and whether or not it requires or is susceptible to medical treatment ; or
  (f) has been suffering
  
  from venereal disease in a communicable form ;or]
  (g) has 25[***] been suffering from
  
  leprosy, the disease not having been contracted from the petitioner ; or
  (h) has not been herd of as being alive for a
  
  period of seven years or more by those persons who would naturally have heard
  
  of the respondent if the respondent had been alive ;
   26  [Explanation.-In
  
  this sub-section, the expression "desertion" means desertion of the
  
  petitioner by the other party to the marriage without reasonable cause and
  
  without the consent or against the wish of such party, and includes the willful
  
  neglect of the petitioner by the other party to the marriage and its
  
  grammatical variations and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly.]
  
  27[***]
   27  [***]
   25  [***]
   26  [(1A) A wife may also
  
  present a petition for divorce to the district court on the ground,-
  (i) that her husband has, since the
  
  solemnization of the marriage been guilty of rape, sodomy or bestiality;
  (ii) that in suit under section 18 of the
  
  Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956, or in a proceeding under section 125
  
  of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (or under the corresponding section 488
  
  of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898), a decree or order, as the case may
  
  be, has been passed against the husband awarding maintenance to the wife
  
  notwithstanding that she was living apart and that since the passing of such
  
  decree or order, cohabitation between the parties has not been resumed for one
  
  year or upwards.]
   28  (2) Subject to the
  
  provisions of this Act and to the rules made thereunder, either party to a
  
  marriage, whether solemnized before or after the commencement of the Special
  
  Marriage (Amendment) Act, 1970, may present a petition for divorce to the
  
  district court on the ground-
  (i) that there has been no resumption of
  
  cohabitation as between the parties to the marriage for a period of one year or
  
  upwards after the passing of a decree for judicial separation in a proceeding
  
  to which they were parties:
  or
  (ii) that there has been no restitution of
  
  conjugal rights as between the parties to the marriage for a period of one year
  
  or upwards after the passing of a decree for restitution of conjugal rights in
  
  a proceeding to which they were parties.]