Divorce proceedings after grant of judicial separation or other relief

(1) A person shall not be prevented from presenting a petition for divorce, or the Court from pronouncing a decree of divorce, by reason only that the petitioner had at any time been granted a judicial separation or an order by a summary jurisdiction court upon the same or substantially the same facts as those proved in support of the petition for divorce. (2) On any such petition for divorce, the Court may treat the decree of judicial separation or the said order as sufficient proof of the adultery, desertion or other ground on which it was granted, but the Court shall not pronounce a decree of divorce without receiving evidence from the petitioner. (3) For the purposes of any such petition for divorce, a period of desertion immediately preceding the institution of proceedings for a decree of judicial separation or an order under the said Act having the effect of such a decree shall, if the parties have not resumed cohabitation and the decree or order has been continuously in force since the granting thereof, be deemed immediately to precede the presentation of the petition for