Centre to amend law to reduce separation period for Christian

The government plans to amend a law to reduce the separation period for Christian couples seeking to file for divorce by mutual consent, a move which comes against the backdrop of a Supreme Court ruling and demands by the community.
The Law Ministry has drafted a Cabinet note to amend the Divorce Act, 1869 to halve the separation period for couples from the present two to one year before they can file for divorce by mutual consent to bring it at par with laws governing other communities.
The separation period under Hindu Marriage Act, Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act and the Special Marriage Act is one year.

Section 10A(1) of the Divorce Act, added through an amendment in 2001, says that a couple seeking divorce should be living separately for a period of "two years or more".
Against the backdrop of a Supreme Court order delivered in April last and demands by members of the community, the Law Ministry has decided to move the proposal to reduce the separation period.
Questioning the existing law, the Supreme Court had urged the Centre to make necessary amendments.

"Should Christians stay separated for minimum two years when the period prescribed for others is one year? It does not make sense to us. It is a pure question of law and you (government) should have acted on your own," a bench of Justices Vikramjit Sen and A M Sapre had observed.

Some High Courts have also struck down the provision of two-year separation.
The bench was hearing a petition filed by a Delhi-based person while delivering the order.
Law Commission on the past several occasions has also recommended amendments to the Divorce Act to make it more women-friendly.