If your spouse has left the marriage without a reasonable cause, you can file a petition for restitution of conjugal rights under Section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act 1955. File it in the Family Court that has jurisdiction. The court can order the spouse to resume living together, but it cannot use force to make them comply.
Short on time? Jump to the step-by-step filing process below to see exactly where to file and what to attach.
Restitution of conjugal rights is a court remedy. When one spouse withdraws from the company of the other without a reasonable excuse, the deserted spouse asks the court to direct the couple to live together again. It is about restoring the marriage, not about money.
Marriage in Indian law carries a duty to live together. When one partner walks out without a valid reason, the other partner has not done anything wrong but loses the shared home and companionship. Section 9 gives that partner a formal way to ask a court to step in.
The remedy is not only for Hindus. Section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 covers Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs. For civil marriages and inter-faith marriages registered under the Special Marriage Act 1954, the matching provision is Section 22, which uses almost identical wording.
Note: the court only restores cohabitation. If the spouse still refuses to return after the decree, the law does not jail them or drag them home. Instead, continued refusal becomes a separate ground for divorce, explained below.
Section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 reads: “When either the husband or the wife has, without reasonable excuse, withdrawn from the society of the other, the aggrieved party may apply, by petition to the district court, for restitution of conjugal rights and the court, on being satisfied of the truth of the statements made in such petition and that there is no legal ground why the application should not be granted, may decree restitution of conjugal rights accordingly.”
The Explanation to Section 9 is important: “Where a question arises whether there has been reasonable excuse for withdrawal from the society, the burden of proving reasonable excuse shall be on the person who has withdrawn from the society.”
So once you show that your spouse left, the burden shifts. The spouse who walked out must prove they had a reasonable cause.
The Supreme Court upheld Section 9 in Saroj Rani v. Sudarshan Kumar Chadha (1984) 4 SCC 90. The two-judge bench rejected the argument that the section violated Article 14 or Article 21 of the Constitution. As of 2026, Section 9 remains valid law.
There is a fresh constitutional challenge pending. In Ojaswa Pathak v. Union of India, Writ Petition (Civil) 250 of 2019, petitioners argue that the remedy places a disproportionate burden on women and breaches privacy and equality. The Supreme Court has issued notice and the Union government is contesting the plea. The petition has not been decided, and Section 9 has not been struck down. Treat the section as enforceable until the court rules otherwise.
File the petition in the Family Court that has jurisdiction. Where a district has no Family Court, the District Court hears it. Under the Family Courts Act 1984, a Family Court has exclusive jurisdiction over restitution petitions in the areas it covers.
A court has jurisdiction if any one of these applies:
If more than one court qualifies, you may choose the most convenient one.
You carry the initial burden, then it shifts. You must establish three things:
Once you prove withdrawal, the Explanation to Section 9 shifts the burden. The spouse who left must then prove a reasonable excuse, such as cruelty or a genuine threat to safety. If they cannot, the court may pass the decree.
A schoolteacher in Pune married in 2023 under Hindu rites. In early 2025 her husband moved to his parents' home in another district and stopped all contact, giving no reason. She filed a Section 9 petition in the Pune Family Court, where the couple had last lived together. She attached her marriage certificate and chat records showing he had cut her off. The court issued notice, attempted counselling, and after the husband failed to show any reasonable excuse, passed a restitution decree. The figures and route here are illustrative of a typical filing, not a reported judgment.
The decree directs the couple to resume living together. If the spouse complies, the marriage continues. If the spouse does not comply for one year or more after the decree, that non-compliance becomes a ground for divorce.
This is set out in Section 13(1A)(ii) of the Hindu Marriage Act 1955. It allows either party to seek divorce where “there has been no restitution of conjugal rights as between the parties to the marriage for a period of one year or upwards after the passing of a decree for restitution of conjugal rights.” Either spouse can use this ground, including the spouse who did not return.
No. A restitution decree under Section 9 directs your spouse to resume cohabitation, but the court cannot use force to make them return or live with you. If they keep refusing for one year after the decree, that refusal becomes a ground for divorce under Section 13(1A)(ii) of the Hindu Marriage Act 1955.
You first prove that your spouse withdrew from your society. Then the burden shifts. Under the Explanation to Section 9, the spouse who withdrew must prove they had a reasonable excuse, such as cruelty or a real safety risk. If they cannot prove a reasonable excuse, the court may grant the decree.
Section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 applies to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs. For marriages registered under the Special Marriage Act 1954, the equivalent remedy is Section 22, which uses almost identical language. So civil and inter-faith couples use Section 22 rather than Section 9.
Yes. The Supreme Court upheld Section 9 in Saroj Rani v. Sudarshan Kumar Chadha (1984) 4 SCC 90. A fresh challenge, Ojaswa Pathak v. Union of India, is pending before the Supreme Court, where the government is contesting the plea. The court has not struck the section down, so it remains enforceable as of 2026.
File in the Family Court with jurisdiction, or the District Court where no Family Court exists. A court has jurisdiction if the marriage was solemnised there, the couple last lived together there, or the respondent resides there. If more than one court qualifies, you can pick the most convenient one.
If there has been no restitution of conjugal rights for a period of one year or more after the decree, either spouse may petition for divorce under Section 13(1A)(ii) of the Hindu Marriage Act 1955. The one-year period runs from the date the restitution decree was passed.
Last reviewed: June 2026. Reviewed by Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak. This is general information, not legal advice. For your specific case, consult a qualified family lawyer.