Yes, and this is a specifically recognised ground under Indian matrimonial law designed exactly for this difficult situation — if your spouse has been missing and not heard of as being alive for a continuous period of seven years or more by people who would naturally have known of them had they been alive, you can seek divorce in Delhi on this basis under Section 13(1)(vii) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, which treats such prolonged, unexplained disappearance as grounds for dissolving the marriage.

To succeed on this ground, you need to establish that reasonable, genuine efforts were made to locate your spouse and that no credible information about their whereabouts or survival has surfaced despite these efforts over the required seven-year period. This typically involves filing a missing person's report with the police, making inquiries with the spouse's family, friends, and known associates, and maintaining documentation of these efforts, since courts require credible evidence that the disappearance is genuine rather than merely convenient or unverified.

The legal effect of a decree granted on this basis is that your marriage is treated as dissolved, allowing you to remarry and move forward with your life, though it's worth understanding that this does not retroactively declare your spouse legally dead — presumption of death for other legal purposes, such as inheritance, may require separate proceedings under different provisions if relevant to your circumstances.

If your missing spouse later reappears after the divorce decree has been granted, this generally does not automatically revive the marriage or invalidate the divorce, since the decree, once passed following proper legal process, stands as a valid dissolution based on the circumstances that existed at the time it was granted, though the reappearing spouse would need to address any related legal questions separately.

Given how procedurally specific this ground is, with strict evidentiary requirements around the seven-year period and genuine efforts to locate your spouse, it is worth reaching out via Aapka Legal Advice to ensure your petition properly documents everything the Delhi Family Court will require.

The Best Divorce Lawyers & Retired Judges in Delhi | Aapka Legal Advice platform connects clients with divorce lawyers experienced in presumption-of-death and missing-spouse divorce cases, along with a panel of retired judges who can offer practical guidance on how Delhi courts evaluate such petitions.

In summary, a spouse missing for seven years or more provides valid grounds for divorce in Delhi, provided the disappearance and genuine search efforts are properly documented. Thorough preparation of this evidence gives your petition the strongest possible foundation.