By S&S Co. Advocates & Solicitors · Published 3 September 2026 · Informational content, not legal advice
About this article: A general explainer prepared by S&S Co. Advocates & Solicitors on a recurring type of dispute. It does not report a specific judgment or order, names no parties and gives no case citation, so it should not be cited as authority. Law and practice change; please verify against the current statute and primary sources before relying on it.
Section 13(1)(ib) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 allows a spouse to seek divorce where the other has deserted them for a continuous period of at least two years immediately before the petition. Similar grounds exist under other personal laws and the Special Marriage Act, 1954, with their own wording.
Courts have long read desertion as having two elements. The first is factual separation (the factum of desertion) for the statutory period. The second is an intention on the part of the deserting spouse to bring cohabitation to a permanent end (animus deserendi), without the other spouse's consent and without reasonable cause. The petitioner must also not have caused the separation by their own conduct.
Living apart, even for a long time, does not by itself amount to desertion. If the spouse who left has genuinely intended and attempted to return, or left for a reason that the other spouse's conduct justifies, the intention element is missing. Documented attempts at reconciliation can therefore defeat a desertion claim, although other grounds may still be available. Courts decide on the evidence in each case.