Marriage laws amendment bill, 2010 (key

features)
This bill was passed to amend the Hindu marriage act, 1955
and Special marriage act, 1954.

Irretrievable breakdown of marriage:

amendment, sections 13-B and 28

Before the

of the HMA & SMA

respectively, provided for the grounds of divorce with mutual

consent. However, this would often lead to a deadlock during
court proceedings as one of the parties would abstain form
making appearances in order to elongate the proceedings. To
fill this lacunae sections 13-C, D and E were added to the HMA
and section 28 was amended in the SMA.

Section 13-C:
This entitles either party to file for divorce as opposed to
mutual consent.
It provides for irretrievable breakdown of marriage as a
ground for divorce.
The court shall grant decree on the above ground if it satisfies
all conditions.
One if the conditions being that the couple have to live apart
for 3 years.

Section 13-D:
This section has managed to garner some controversies as it is
apparently driven by gender bias.

 This section gives a right to the wife to oppose a divorce if she

is the respondent in the case.
She can oppose the divorce on the basis of financial
hardship.

Section 13-E:
This section states that decree of divorce shall not be granted
to the parties unless adequate provisions of maintenance of
children born out of the marriage have been made.