Bigamy Charges Quashed: Second Wife’s Innocence Upheld in Court.
03 January 2024
Marrying again during the lifetime of husband or wife >> Criminal Law
This application of Anita Sudam Ahire & Another v/s The State of Maharashtra & Another., under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C. challenges the order dated 15/11/2007 and seeks the quashing of a complaint filed by respondent No.2 before the Magistrate’s Court in Mumbai. The complainant, respondent No.2, claims that the applicants, the second wife (applicant No.1) and her father (applicant No.2), are involved in the offence of bigamy, as the second marriage of her husband (respondent No.3) occurred during the subsistence of his first marriage with her. The trial court had issued process under Section 494 read with Section 109 of the IPC against the applicants.
Upon review, the court found no evidence or allegations in the complaint to substantiate the charge of abetment (Section 109) against the applicants. The complaint only mentions that the husband married applicant No.1 during his first marriage but does not suggest how the applicants abetted the commission of the crime. In line with previous legal precedents, the court concluded that the second wife could not be prosecuted for the offence of bigamy unless it could be proven she knowingly married a man who was already married.
Consequently, the court quashed the complaint as against the applicants, ruling that there was no case of abetment under Section 109 of the IPC, and they should not face proceedings for the charge under Section 494.
Section 109., Indian Penal Code - 1860
Section 494., Indian Penal Code - 1860