Yes. Imprisonment does not stop divorce proceedings. In July 2026 a Pune court granted a woman a divorce under the Special Marriage Act after her husband, in judicial custody in an alleged investment fraud case, appeared by video conference from jail and said he had no objection. Where the spouse in custody consents, the case can move quickly; where he does not, you proceed on a ground you can prove, and he is served and produced through the jail.
It is a situation more families face than is commonly discussed: a spouse arrested in a fraud, a cheating case or something more serious, the trial years away, and the other spouse left with children, loans and no legal clarity. The question we are asked is simple — do I have to wait for the criminal case to finish?
What happened in the Pune case
According to the report in Pune Pulse, the couple had been married for 12 years. The wife filed under Section 27 of the Special Marriage Act, alleging continuing mental cruelty. Before District Judge Mahendra Jadhav, the husband appeared from jail by video link and told the court he did not oppose the divorce. Taking into account his long incarceration and his consent, the court granted the decree.
Does the law give you a ground just because your spouse is in jail?
| Law | Is imprisonment itself a ground? |
|---|---|
| Special Marriage Act, Section 27 | Yes, but only where the spouse is undergoing a sentence of seven years or more — that is, after conviction |
| Hindu Marriage Act, Section 13 | No separate imprisonment ground. You rely on cruelty, desertion or another listed ground, or on mutual consent |
| Undertrial custody under either law | Not a ground by itself, because there is no sentence yet |
So for most couples, the arrest is the background, not the ground. The petition stands on cruelty, desertion or mutual consent. Facts around the arrest can be part of a cruelty case — for example, the financial and social consequences the family has been left to face — but they have to be pleaded and proved like any other facts.
Practical mechanics when a spouse is in custody
- Service: notice is served on the spouse through the jail superintendent, which is usually quicker than serving someone outside.
- Appearance: courts in Maharashtra regularly use video conferencing from Yerawada and other prisons. The Supreme Court recognised in Amardeep Singh v. Harveen Kaur (2017) that appearance by video conference may be permitted in mutual consent matters.
- Mutual consent: a joint petition under Section 13B HMA or Section 28 SMA can be signed by the spouse in jail, with the jail authorities’ cooperation. The cooling-off period may be waived where the conditions are met.
- Contested: if he opposes, the case runs on evidence like any other. His custody may slow hearings but does not freeze the case.
- Interim relief: you can seek interim maintenance and child custody while the case is pending, even if his income has stopped — courts look at assets and earning capacity too.
The bottom line
You do not have to wait for the criminal case to end. If your spouse will consent, a divorce can proceed by video conference from jail. If he will not, build the case on a ground you can prove. Either way, protect your financial position early, because in custody cases the money question is often harder than the divorce itself.