A contested divorce is one where your spouse does not agree to the divorce, or agrees but not on the terms. You file alone, and you must prove one of the grounds for divorce the law recognises, such as cruelty or desertion. The other side can oppose it, and the family court decides after hearing evidence from both.
Honestly, it takes time. The law asks courts to try to finish a divorce trial within six months, but in Bengaluru’s busy family courts a contested divorce more often runs into years. How long depends on how many cases are pending in your court, whether the other side cooperates, and whether related cases such as maintenance or a criminal complaint are running alongside.
Many contested cases end as mutual consent divorces once the money and children are settled. That is worth knowing at the start.
Grounds for divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act
Most divorces in Bengaluru are filed under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. Either spouse can seek divorce if the other:
| Ground | What it means in short |
|---|---|
| Cruelty | Conduct, physical or mental, that makes it unreasonable to expect you to live together |
| Desertion | Leaving you without reasonable cause and without consent, for at least two continuous years before filing |
| Adultery | Voluntary sexual intercourse with someone else after marriage |
| Conversion | Ceasing to be a Hindu by converting to another religion |
| Mental disorder | Incurably of unsound mind, or a mental disorder of a kind and degree that you cannot reasonably be expected to live with |
| Venereal disease | Suffering from it in a communicable form |
| Renunciation | Renouncing the world by entering a religious order |
| Presumed death | Not heard of as alive for seven years or more |
Leprosy was earlier a ground. It was removed by the Personal Laws (Amendment) Act, 2019.
Section 13 also allows divorce where there has been no resumption of living together for one year or more after a decree of judicial separation, or no restitution of conjugal rights for one year after a decree for it. A wife has a few additional grounds under Section 13(2), including where a maintenance order has been passed in her favour and the couple have not lived together for one year since.
Marriages under the Special Marriage Act and Christian marriages under the Divorce Act have similar, though not identical, grounds.
Cruelty is the most common ground
Cruelty under divorce law is not only physical violence. Courts have accepted sustained abuse and humiliation, false criminal complaints, refusal of marital relations without reason, threats of suicide, and making life with in-laws impossible, depending on the facts. Ordinary quarrels and the normal wear of married life are not enough. The question is whether the conduct is serious enough that you cannot reasonably be expected to go on living together.
Irretrievable breakdown is not a ground in family court
“The marriage has broken down” is not, by itself, a ground a Bengaluru family court can grant divorce on. In Shilpa Sailesh v. Varun Sreenivasan (2023), the Supreme Court said it can dissolve a marriage on that basis under Article 142 of the Constitution. That power belongs only to the Supreme Court.
The one-year rule
Under Section 14 of the Hindu Marriage Act, a divorce petition generally cannot be filed within one year of the date of marriage. The court can allow an earlier petition only in a case of exceptional hardship to the petitioner or exceptional depravity by the other spouse.
The stages of a contested divorce in Bengaluru
- Petition. Filed in the family court with jurisdiction: usually where the marriage took place, where you last lived together, or in some cases where the wife now lives. For most of Bengaluru city, that is the family court complex in Shanti Nagar.
- Summons. The court sends notice to your spouse.
- Appearance and objections. Your spouse appears and files a written statement. They may also file a counter-claim, or separate applications for interim maintenance under Section 24 and for custody.
- Mediation or counselling. The family court has a duty to try for a settlement first, and usually refers the couple to mediation.
- Interim orders. Interim maintenance, litigation expenses, interim custody and visitation are decided while the main case is pending.
- Issues framed. The court sets out the points to be proved.
- Evidence. Each side files an affidavit of evidence, produces documents and is cross-examined. Witnesses may be examined.
- Arguments and judgment. The court decides whether the ground is proved, and decides permanent alimony and custody.
The law says a divorce trial should, as far as possible, continue day to day, with an effort to conclude it within six months of notice to the other side (Section 21B). In practice, dates are given weeks or months apart.
What makes a contested divorce slow
- Delay in service of notice, especially if the spouse lives in another state or abroad
- Repeated adjournments, by either side, for filing objections or for evidence
- Interim applications for maintenance, custody and visitation, which are heard first
- Parallel cases: a maintenance case under Section 144 BNSS, a DV Act case, or a criminal complaint under Sections 85 and 86 BNS (old 498A)
- Transfer petitions, when one side asks for the case to be moved to another city
- Court workload, which varies between family courts
How evidence works
Divorce is decided on evidence, and the petitioner carries the burden of proving the ground. Useful evidence is usually ordinary and dated: messages and emails, medical records, police complaints, letters, bank records showing who paid what, and witnesses who saw events. Courts are careful about recordings and screenshots, which need to be produced properly under the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam with the required certificate. Speak to your advocate before collecting evidence in ways that may be unlawful, such as accessing someone else’s phone.
When contested turns into mutual consent
Settlement can happen at any stage: in mediation, after interim maintenance is fixed, or after cross-examination. When it does, the couple usually file a joint petition under Section 13B. The time you have already lived apart counts towards the one-year separation, and the court may waive the six-month waiting period if the conditions are met. Our article on whether a mutual divorce can be done in 3 months explains when.
Appeals
A decree of divorce, or a dismissal of the petition, can be appealed to the High Court of Karnataka. The Family Courts Act gives thirty days to file an appeal from a family court. Do not remarry until the appeal period is over and no appeal is pending. For costs, see divorce lawyer fees in Bangalore, and for related family court work, our page for a divorce lawyer in Bangalore.
Questions people ask
How long does a contested divorce take in Bangalore?
There is no fixed time. The law asks courts to try to finish within six months, but in practice contested cases in Bengaluru often take a few years, depending on the court’s workload, the evidence and parallel cases.
What are the grounds for divorce in India?
Under the Hindu Marriage Act, the main grounds are cruelty, desertion for two years, adultery, conversion, serious mental disorder, communicable venereal disease, renunciation of the world, and not being heard of for seven years.
Can I get a divorce if my spouse does not agree?
Yes. You can file a contested divorce on a legal ground. If the court finds the ground proved, it can grant the divorce even without your spouse’s consent.
Can I file for divorce within one year of marriage?
Generally no. Section 14 of the Hindu Marriage Act bars a petition within one year of marriage, unless the court allows it for exceptional hardship or exceptional depravity.
Is irretrievable breakdown of marriage a ground for divorce?
Not in the family court. Only the Supreme Court can dissolve a marriage on that basis, using its power under Article 142 of the Constitution.
Talk to us about your matter
Call or WhatsApp to fix a time. Bring your papers to the office in Rajarajeshwari Nagar.
This article is general information about the law as it stood when it was written. Your facts change the answer. Speak to an advocate before you act on it.