The Jammu and Kashmir Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1942

(1) This Act may be ca?led the Jammu and Kashmir Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1999. (2) It extends to the whole of the Jammu ant1 Kashmir Stata

A woman who is the wife of a pcrson according to the Muslin law shall he entitled to obtain a decree for the dissolution of her marriage on any onc or more of the folIowing grounds, namely :- (i) that the whereabouts of the husband have not been knom for a period of four years ; (ii) that after sha asked her husband to provide For her maintenance he wilfully neglected or failed for a period of not less than two y@ars to do so ; (iii) that the husband has been sentenced to imprisonment for a period of seven yrlars or upwards ; (iv) that the husband has failed to perform, without reasonabIa cause, his ma~ital obligations for a period of thrice years ; (v) that the husband was impotent at the time of the marriage and continues to be so ; (vi) that the husband has been insane for a continuous period of four years or is suffering from leprosy ; (vii) that she, having been given in marriage before she attained puberty, repudiated this marriage before she attained the age olt - eighteen years : Provided that the marriage has not kc:1 consummated: Provided further that, if she has been given in marriage by her father or father's father, the marriage shall not be repudiated unless such father or father's father has acted fraudulently or the contract is to her manifest disadvantage ; (viii) that the husband treats her with cruelty, that is to say,- (a) habitually aswlts hrr or makes her life miserable by cruelty of conduct even if such co~lduct docs not amount to physical ill-treatment, or (b) associates with women of evil repute or leads a life of de- buachery, or (c) attempts to force her to lead an immoral life, or (d) obstructs her in the obwmnce of her religious professiotl or practice, or (e) if he has more wives than one, does not treat hk? equitably; (ix) on any other ground which is recognised as valid for the dissolution of mamages under Muslim law : Provided that- (a) a decree pa?.sccl on gronud (i) shall not take effrct f~r peri0t.r of one year from the date of such decree, and if cluring such perid the husband either appears iri person 5efore the Court or satisfies the Court through t.n authorised agent as to Ft~s whereabouts, tho Court shall set aside the s;dd decree ; (b) no decree shall be passed on ground (iii) until the sentcnw Bas become final ; and (c) in case of the impotency of the husband, before passing a decrd on ground (v), the Court shall make an order requiring the husband to satisfy the Court within a period of one year from the date of such order that he has ciecased to be impotent, and if the hus- band so satisfies the Court within such period, no decree shall be pas$* on the said ground.

In a suit to which clause (i) of section 2 applies- (a) the names and addresses of the persons who would have been the heirs of the husband under Muslim law if he had died on tho date of t b filing of the plaint, shall be stated in the plaint, (b) notice of the suit shall be served on such persons, and (c) such persons shall have the right to ti3 heard in the suit: Provided that the paternal uncle and the brother of the husband, if any, shall be cited as parties.

The renunciation of Islam by a mamed h4uslim woman or her conversion to a faith other than Islam shall not by itself operate to dissolve her marriage : Provided that it shall so o v a t e in the case of a married Muslim woman who was converted to Tslam from some other faith but who re-embraces her former faith.