 the converts' marriage dissolution bill, 1962(as introduced in laic sabha on 4th sbptbmber, 1962)  bnl, 1962 (as introj)ucbd in lok sabra) a billto provide for the dissolution under certain circumstance of marriages of cont'etts and fat matters connected therewi'ua bz it enacted by parliament in the thirteenth year of the republic 'of l1ldia lls follows:-chapter i  preliminary5 t (i) tliis°act may 1>e caned theccmverts' mai'riagedimolutlon short title act, 1962 aad extcd& °(2) -it 'extends to tlie whole otindia except the·state·of jammu '8rl4 kashmir 2 in this act, unless the context otherwise :requires,-j)cftnitiodl 10 (a) "conversion" means change of 'religion °ahd "includes renunchafion 'of 'religion; (b) "diatrict court" means, in any area for which there is ' city civil court, that court, and in any other area the principal civil court of ariginal jurisdiction, and includes any other civil 15 court which may be specified by the state government, by notification in the ° o!(c!ial gaietfe, as having jurisdiction in respect of the matters dealt with in this act; :(c) 64fntiia"omettfls the territoric!stb whidl tms"actextemis; and (d) "minor" means a person who has not completed the age of eighteen years ° °  chapter ii ej'li'ilct ar conversion on marriages a-effect of conversion generallyconvenloll by iuelfnot to dillolve maniqe 3 notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, the conversion of a husband or wife shall not by s itself t'perate to dissolve his or her marriage prohibition c every person who, during the life-time of his or her spouse by ofbipmy a marriage contracted before conversion, contracts any other marriage after his or her conversion, shall be subied to the penalties provided in section 494 and section 495 of the indian penal code 10 f 86~ for the offence of marrying again dutin~ the life-time of a wife or i 45 0 i  husband, and the marriage so contracted shan be void ~i=:= 5 no marriage shall be dissolved at the instance of a spouse on on pound of the ground of the conversion of that spouse, except as provided in codvcnlo~ this act is dot permlt- ted except uacler mo b-dinoluticm of man-iage on refusal to cohabit after conversion e (1) if in consequence of the conversion of a husband or a dillolution of marriage od conver- wife, the other spouse, not being 8 minor, repudiates, or refuses to :::, o~~c:c cohabit with, such husband or wife the marria«e, whether solemparty refuaes nized before or after the commencement of this act, may, on a peti- 20 to cohabit tion presented by such husband or wife be dissolved by a decree of divorce on the ground of such repudiation or refusal (2) no petition shall be entertained under this section unless at the time of the presentation of the petition a period of not less than two years has elapsed since the conversion of the petitioner 25 :t'drr::r: 7 where a decree of dissolution of marriage under this act has penoua been passed, and the time for appealing has expired without an appeal having been presented, or an appeal lias been presented but bas been dismissed and the decree of dissolution has become final, but not sooner, either party to the marriage may marry again 30 chapter m  jurisdiction and proceduu8 every petition under this act shall be presented to the atstrlct eourt within the local limits of whose' ordinary arlglnal civil jurisdictiod-35 (4) the respondent is restdfng 'at the time of the presentatlon of the petition, or (b) the marriage was solemnized, or (c) the husband and wife lajt resided together, or 5 (d) the petitioner is residing at the time of presentation df the petition, provided the respondent is, at that time, residing outside india t no court shall entertain any petition for the dissolution of an, jurijlctioa marriage under this act unless the parties are domiciled in india at of indian the time of the presentation of the petition ourti 10 (1) every petition presented under this act shall state dis- con~ 10 unct1y the facts of the case and shall also state that there is no ~~~ of collusion between the petitioner and the other party to the marriage~ peti~ (2) the statements contained in every such petition shall be verified by the petitioner or some other competent person in the manner required by law for the verification of plaints and may, at 15 the hearing, be referred to as evi&!nee 11 subject to the other provisions contained in this act and to a,~tiod luch rules as the high court may make in this behalf, all proceed- ~'vil :~ 1ngs under this act shall be regulated, as far as may be, by the code d~re of civu procedure, j908 j of 1~,8 20 12 where in any pl'oceeding under this act it appears to the maintcd&dcc court that either the wife or the husband, as the case may be, has t""":::d no independent income suffic·jent for her or his support and the e~ of necessary expenses of the proceeding, it may, on the application of the proccedidp wife or the husband, order the respondent to pay to the petitioner 25 ~e expenses of the proceeding, and monthly during the proceeding such sum as, having regard to the petitioner's own income and the income of the respondent, may seem to the court to be reasonable 13 (1) any court exercising jurisdiction under this act on the p~rmancnt application of any person, may, at the time of passing any decree of ~~te!a~ 30 dissolution of marriage or at any time subsequent thereto, order that the petitioner shall, while the respondent remains un-married, pay to the respondent for her or his maintenance and support such gross sum or such monthly or periodical sum for a term not exceeding the life of the respondent as, having regard to the petitioner' 35 own income and other property, if any, the income and other property of the respondent and the conduct of the parties, may seem to the court to be justj and any such payment may be secured, if necestary, by a charge on the immovable property of the petitioner (2) where a petition for dissolution of a marriage under this act 40 has been filed by the husband, the court shall not pass a decree of dissolution of the marriage without passiag an order under subsection (1) unless, fer special reasons to be recorded, the court ~: ,~~ ,sllck, ordr i~ wmlee~ (3) if the court is satided that there is a change in the circumstances of either party at any time after it has made an order under s !lulhiection (1), it loay" althe, in$p,ce, of ~i: pa,rty, vbrf, inp,dify or  dt8lzijid my, such 0j:d~ ~ su:ca ll)bluler ~ the, court, n;a41 ,'deem just ' ", , , (f) ~ the court is satisfied that the party in whose favour an o~:d~ has been made under this section has re-married' or, if such 10 party is the wife, that she has not remained chaste, or, if such party is the husband, that bee hq, hac:i se~ intercour:se with any woman outside wedlock, it sbe1l r~ the order ' 14 (1) in any proce~, under this act, the co~ ~y m8~e such provisions in the decree as it deems just and proper with respec~ is ~ any property presented, at, or about the time of,' t~e lllal'riage, which may beleng jo1ntlly to both the husbaw;l and the wife (2) in any proceeding under this act in which the c~, pro-j:lp~,c;es a decr~ for ~lution of marriage, the court may inquire h;lto ,the, e?,i~ence of an~e-nuptial or post-nuptial settlements madezo on the pa~i~ whose maniage'is the subject of the decree, and may make such' orders,' with' reference to the application of, the whole or iply pa~ ,o!- the property ~ settled (whether the seulementis for tile benefit of the children of the marriage or of the parties to ~e ~iage or both), 'as the court thinks fit 25 (3) the court shall not make any order under subsectlon (2) for ,the benefit of ,the parents or either of them at the expense :>f the children of '15: (1) subject to the provisions at sub-section (z), many ,proc~ding under this act, the court may from time to ttm"pasa such 30 interim orders ad make such provisions in the decree as it, d\by de,em just and proper with respect to the custody, maintenance and education of minor children, consistently with their wishes, wlh~ver possible, and may, after the decree, upon application by,petition for the purpose, make, from time to time, all such orders andpravislc;ms 3s with re~pect !o the custody, maintenance and education of such children as might have been made by such decree orinteiim orders in case tb,e proceecling for obtaining such decree were s~ill pending, ~the co1p1 may al~o from time to tipte revoke, suspend or vary any such orders and provisions previously made -40 ~)  ~ anwriaae is dlsa9lved ~r this ~ ~ the ~ioi1 of any person, the respondent shall ~ enti~d t9 ~ ellstody of the minor children of the marriage, unless the court, by reason of the special circumstances of the case, deems it just to make an order to s the contraq 1~ all decrees and orders made by the court in any proceeding enforcemcdt under this act shall be enforced in the like manner as the decrees ~d~~: and orders of the cow;t made in the exercise of its original civil jurisdiction for the wne being are ~orcecl'      10 j7 all decree& and orders made by the court in any procee~ing =:creea un,de:r this act sball be appealable as decrees of the court made in dd orden the exercise of its original civil jurisdiction, and such appeal shall lie to the court to which appeals ordinarily lie from 'the decisions of ~~ court given in the exercise of its oriainal civil jurisdiction:  , "  :' '  , ~  is provided that there shall be no appeal on the subject of ~ts only  chapl'er iv miscellaneous18, the high court may, by notification in the official gazette, rul~ ~ make such rules consistent with the provisions contained in this act his 20 as it may consider expedient for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of this act 19 in any proceeding under this act, proof of the respondent's proof l of refusal or voluntary neglect to cohabit with the petitioner, after the refu  petitioner's conversion and after knowledge thereof by the respon-2s dent, shan be sufficient evidence of such repudiation or refusal being in consequence of the petttioner's conversion, unless some other sufficient cause for such repudiation or refusal be proved by the respondent 20 the dissolution of a marriage under this act shall not operate dilolu~loll 30 to deprive the respondent's children (if any) by the petitioner of ~~n:r:c their status as legitimate children or of any right or interest which ~tui ~ they would have had according to the perslonal law applicable to =lu them, by way of maintenance, inheritance or otherwise, in case the marriage had not been dissolved under this act 35 21 for the purposes of this act, a person to whom the hindu pzovi~~od marriage act, 1955, applies, shall not be deemed to have been con- =n~1li to vert~ to another religion if, even after such conversion, the said act ~nc: ~  continues to apply to such person rlail act appliel both before add aftcrcomv- special mar riaae act &epeai 23 (1) the converts' marriage dissolution act, 1866 and ahy 21 of 1866-enactment corresponding to that act in force in any area immediately before the commencement of this act, are hereby repealed (2) nothing contained in this section shall aftect any proceeding s under the converts' marriage dissolution act, 1866, or any such 21 of 1866 coltesponding enactment, pending at the commencement of this act and any such proceeding may be continued and determined as if the converts' marriage dissolution act, 1866 or such coltesponding 10 21 of 1866 enactment, as the case may be, had not been repealed (3) the provisions of sub-section (2) shall be without prejudice to the provisions contained in section 6 of the general clauses act, 1897, which shall also apply to the repeal of the coltesponcling enaet-10 of 1891 ~~ is  'tatement of objects and reasonsthe converts' marriage dissolution act, 1866, provides that when - husband or wife changes his or her reugion to· christianity and if in consequence of such change the other party to the marriage deserta or repudiates the convert, the convert can move the court for a decree dissolving the marriage, and the court may pass such a decree after complying with the procedure prescribed therein during the examination by the law commission of the law relating to marriage and divorce among christians in india, this act was criticised as being discriminative in character in that it applied only to cases of conversion from hinduism and it gave reuef only in cases of conversion to christianity in its 18th report the law commjssion has recommended the replacement of this act by a law applicable to all c0n-verts uniformly which would confer on a convert the right to have the marriage contracted before conversion dissolved on such terms u amght be just and proper this bill seeks to implement the 18th report of the law c0mmission the notes on clauses explain in detau the sa11ent featurel of the bill a k sen new delhi; the 24th auvu", 1962 ,~~ l-the existijig ,act namely the converts' martial bi~sbl:ution act, 1866 does not extend to the union territory of mmipur a1j there is no longer any justiftcatlon for its exclusion tlieproposed l~wwi11 no\v 'extend to the whole of india except tlmnu and kashmir czawe 2-the expresslon "eonversion" h8s been defined to include a mere renunciation of religion not followed up by conversion to another religion clause a-tile oeject of' 'this clause is to provide that the cod-~ersltm of a spouse win not by itself put an end to the marriage ~e law at present is that conversion from one monogamous r~lig1on to another does not 'ipso facto put an end to the marriage where the conversion is from a monogamous religion to a polygamoua religion, the law is equally well-settled that such conversion will not operate as a dissolution 'of the marriage urider'section 4: of the dissolution of mu~im marriages act, 1939,' the renunciation of islam by a married muslim woman or her conversion to anotherfaith does not by itself operate to dissolve her marriage where a muslim husband changes his religion the law is however, di1ferent, and this clause while largely declaratory of the existing law, seeks to make a slight modification in muslim law for the sake of uniformity ciawe 4-the object of this clause is to ensure that merely by conversion a person is not enabled to contract a second marriage so long as the marriage contracted before the conversion is not duly dissolved in most cases the personal laws now applicable prohibit bigamy and in such cases this clause will be merely of a declaratory nature where, however, the personal law does not prohibit bigamy, this clause will afford tile non-converted spouse a much needed relief clawe 5-this clause provides that the only method by which a convert can get his pre-converslon marriage dissolved would be under this law claule 6-thls follows sections 4: and 5 of the converts' marriage dissolution act 1866, but the requirement that the desertion or repucjfatidn must have been for the space of six continuous montha has been omitted as unnecessary further, the word "desertion" has also not been used as it is inappropriate in the context of the relief which is based not on any matrimonial offence of the non; converted party but on the ground of conversion not being acceptable to that party instead, the words "refuses to cohabit" have been used a minimum interval of two years between the conversion and the petition is provided for the purpose of dibcourag-' ing sham conversions clause 7-this clause provides that the parties to a decree ~or divorce may re-marry once the decree has become final and is on the lines of the c;:orresponding provision in other matrimonial laws clause 8-subject to the restriction contained in clause 9, this clause seeks to define the district court which will have jurisdiction' in respect of petitions under the proposed law the respondent's residence is the main basis but provision is made to meet other cases as in the hindu marriage act, 1955, and the special marriage act, 1954 clause 9-following sections 4 and 5 of the converts' marriage dissolution act, 1866 (read with the definitions of "husband" and uwife" in that act), and in accordance with well-accepted principles of private international law, jurisdiction under this law will be exercised only if the parties are domiciled in this country clauses 10, 11 a7fd 12-these are modelled mainly on the corx:es,,: ponding provisions in the hindu marriage act 1955, and the special marriage act, 1954 clause 13-this clause deals with permanent alimony and maintenance and is modelled, subject to important qualifications on the corresponding provisions in the special marriage act 1954, and the hindu marriage act, 1955 it is considered that only the respondent in the main proceedings should 'be entitled to relief under this clause so far as the petitioner is concerned, he or she would have instituted proceedings on account of his or her own act, and hence it is not desirable that the petitioner should be given a right to claim maintenance from the other party sub-clause (2) makes a special provisiot:l that unless the court decides otherwise, a decree for dissolution 01 marriage should be passed, where the petitioner is the husband, only after suitable orders have been made for the maintenance of the wife the reason being that once a decree for dissolution has been passed, the husband will be free to marry again and he might thereafter become indifferent and remiss in carrying out his obugatinns to the divorced wife and it would work great hardship if she were to hang on to the court fqr en~orcin~ her rights cz,\&8e h-bubclause (1) is intended to enable the court to put 0~4'~s relatini to the dispoaal of property presented to the parti  ~, ul~ t~e of marriage and belonging to them jointly it is based ~ a ~4u: provision in ilie hindu marriage act, 1955 sub-clauses w ~q (3) are ~tended to eiupower the court to deal with propertilt ~ued before or after the marriage of the parties, and are based on similar prov!sions in the indian divorce act, 1869 ~ 14-sub-clause (1) is intended to enable the court to pass qij\er arts ~i with dissolution of marriage makes comprehensi- pro~ w~th l'eapect to custody, maintenance and education o{ ~or chudren sub-clause (2) embodies a special provwon ~efrini il prefefential right to the c\lstpdy of the children on the d9jl-c,onverted spo\lse subject to the paramount consideration of the weuare of the children clgum j6-thia clause makes the usual provisions as to execution of decrees and orders clci'u!it 11~this provides for appeals &gamst decrees and amers :u ~ been modeued o~ the conef\poi)diog pt'o¥ia,idns of ouler ac$1t t~jdg to marriage aud divorce, with the difference that decl'eea ~ ordera are made appealable as "decrees" and dot as "orders," ls orders are dot normally appealable under the civil procedure cqde under the converts' marriage dissolution act, 1866, no provision ~ been made for any appeal, though a provision has been made for a reference of the case to the high court it is felt that all appeal would be more appropriate and convenient than a reference e'l4uae 19~-this clause, based on secuon 21· of the ccdftverts' marriage diuolution act, 1886 embodies a uaeful presumption clause 2o-this clause embodies the substance of section 27 of the c~verts' marriage dissolution act, 1866, and is intended to ~~r~ the status and property rights of the children of the ~arrlg,~  cli11j,je ?~-thi$ clause is intended to ensure that c);ijlng~ froll1 9~ sect to another within tbe fold of hindu law will nqt be d~emed ·\0 b,e con:verslon, clawon- 22,-this dause excludes meti'i~ges solenujiseci under the $teeial ma~ge act, 1954, from ~e purview: of the proposed ~lauon ·8inoe a difterence of religion doa not codle in the way af it naa~riage undertaat act, any subsequent change  of: i'eligion ~ not abo have any effect ·on a  marciage· eontracted under  act  clause 23-seeks to repeal the converts' marriage di8lo1ution act, 1866, with the necessary saving provisions clause 18 of the bill, like section 62 of the indian divorce act, 1869 and section 41 of the special marriage act, 1954 authorises the high court to make rules for carrying into effect its provisions chapter in lays down in detail ule procedure to be followed by that court in matters arising under the proposed legislation, but rules may still be necessary to supplement its provisions as for example, in respect of matters relating to the form of petitions, the particulars to be contained therein, the payment of costs, etc the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character  - -,  , a bill to provide for the dissolution under certain circumstances of maniages of converts and for matters connected therewith  - (shri asoke k· sen, minister of law) 