Under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, what is the minimum period of desertion required to seek judicial…

Section 10(1) of the Hindu Marriage Act allows judicial separation on any ground in section 13(1), including desertion under section 13(1)(ib) for a continuous period of not less than "2 years" immediately before the petition. Three, five or seven years is not the statutory period. Desertion must also meet its legal elements; mere physical separation for that period is not enough.

Current law: For covered Uttarakhand persons, UCC section 22 refers to the section 25 grounds, and section 25(1)(iii) likewise requires at least two continuous years of desertion immediately before the petition.