Where the parties are Muslim the contract of marriage under the Mohammedan Law may be dissolved in any one of following ways: (1) By husband at his will (2) by mutual consent of husband and wife, without intervention of a court; (3) by a judicial decree at suit of husband or wife; (4) by wife through delegated right of divorce.
Divorce by mutual consent is also possible between two Muslims.
Under the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939 judicial khula may also be granted without the husband’s consent if the wife is willing to forgo her financial rights.
Grounds for a Judicial Divorce/Khula are as follows :
Desertion by husband for four years,
Failure to maintain for two years
Husband contracting a polygamous marriage in contravention of established legal procedures,
Husband’s imprisonment for seven years,
Husband’s failure to perform marital obligations for three years,
Husband’s continued impotence from the time of the marriage
Husband’s insanity for two years or his serious illness
Wife’s exercise of her option of puberty if she was contracted into marriage by any guardian before the age of 16 and repudiates the marriage before the age of 18 (as long as the marriage was not consummated),
Husband’s cruelty (including physical or other mistreatment, unequal treatment of co-wives),
Any other ground recognised as valid for the dissolution of marriage under Muslim law
