Divorce is civil case it will pose any hurdle in leaving country, you can defend divorce from Canada also and appear through video conference. She may entangle in criminal cases, that may pose problem for you. But after guidelines by Supreme Court  in Rajesh Sharma, travelling abroad is not restricted.

File for divorce by mutual consent 

2) you can execute POA in favour of family member 

3) your virtual presence through Skype is sufficient 

If you both have decided to dissolve your marriage by a decree of divorce then you can file a divorce petition on the grounds of mutual consent and if the period of separation is more than a year and it is no more feasible to rejoin, then you both can file a joint affidavit seeking to waive the waiting period of six months just after one week of filing the divorce petition and request the court to pass the decree of divorce  on the same grounds.  

By this you may not have to wait until your departure to Canada for getting this divorce case disposed. 

You are at liberty to go abroad 

2) your wife cannot restrain you from going abroad for further studies pr job purposes 

3) there is no pending criminal case against you 

4) no need to bow down to pressure tactics 

5) since wife is highly qualified and working she is not entitled to any alimony or maintenance 

6) only if there is substantial differences in your incomes would she get maintenance or alimony 

No doubt you cannot be restricted from travelling abroad even if the divorce case is pending disposal.

However in case the divorce case is pending at the time of your departure to Canada, then you may face problem if you do not visit India to appear before the court to depose your side evidence at the time of trial of the pending divorce case. 

You are legally not prevented from travelling abroad during the pendency of divorce case however the risk is that if you do not turn up before the court for the trial or hearing on the court dates then there are chances that the divorce case can be dismissed for no representation from your side or for failing to prosecute the divorce case. 

As far as alimony is concerned she may have to prove your income by producing documentary evidences about your income details.

Further she should not be employed nor having any sufficient sources of income to sustain her expenses.

You can repudiate her claim for alimony or maintenance by providing documentary evidences before court with regard to her employment and her salary details

If you want to file a mutual  consent divorce case then you may file it immediately before the family court.

All the terms should be agreed upon and maintenance and alimony must be decided. All this must be incorporated in the mutual consent divorce petition and presented to the court.

An application for waiving of the cooling off period must also be filed.

If the court grants it you may have your divorce within a week.

As you don't earn anything and she is earning a substantial amount, she is not entitled to maintenance nor alimony.

Although you should pay her something just to get rid of her.

1. Since it is a civil suit, you are not required to attend the Court on every day of hearing and shall have to appear on the days fixed for reconciliation and submitting evidence. Your case can be attended by your Advocate.

2. If you two jointly file a mutual consent divorce petition then both of you shall have to be present together before the Court after 6 months from the date of filing to confirm that both of you still want divorce. This day of the second call can be extended till 18 months from the date of the filing of the MCD.

3. Since there is no criminal case/complaint files/lodged against you, you can not be legally restrained from going abroad.

4. Lodge a police complaint now against your wife alleging that she is threatening you that she will lodge a false police complaint against you if you leave for Canada for study before the divorce suit filed by her is disposed of.

No you can very well file divorce and go abroad. you can approach me on linkedln for further action if required.

Dear Sir,

1) Your wife has no legal right to stop you from going abroad.

2) If You want to file for mutual consent divorce you can file the same immediately if you have been separated for 1 year already. You can also file application in court to waive off the 6 month cooling period.

3) As there are no pending criminal cases against you, there should not be any legal issue with you flying abroad. It is advisable to grant POA in favor of your parent or relative to attend any court issues if needed.

4) You can appear in proceedings through video conferencing.

5) The wife may be pressuring you to get a settlement in favor of her, like property money as amicable settlement is part of mutual consent divorce etc.

6) The wife cannot claim alimony if she is working and has self sufficient living conditions.

7) She can claim alimony if she can prove vast difference in her current income from your income. Court takes into consideration the income of wife, if she is enjoying lifestyle similar to the one she did when she was married. Court will not grant any alimony.

8) if she files for alimony, your POA or you can claim her income and oppose her.

9) If your wife is threatening you collect such evidence. And if you feel the need you can file complaint against her.

Thank you

If circumstances allow you, I suggest you should file first motion for divorce by mutual consent. Though as per Section 13B(2) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 you'll have to wait for another 6-18 months for second motion but you can rely upon a landmark judgment of Hon’ble Supreme Court in Amardeep Singh vs. Harveen Kaur to waive off the time of interregnum or cooling off.

You file second motion for divorce by mutual consent before leaving for your higher studies. But along with your petition you also need to file an application for waiving off period of six months in view of the above mentioned judgment stating that you need to leave for higher studies and coming back for second motion is not possible in view of the Covid-19 situation across the world. Thus, the stipulated waiting period (i.e. 6 to 18 months) will only prolong the agonies of both the parties as there is no chance of reconciliation or resuming cohabitation.

The Court, in view of this, may exercise its flexibility, based on your facts and circumstances, and waive the stipulated time and may grant you divorce before you leave for your higher studies.