At the HC
Chennai: A single woman who tied the knot without knowledge of her partner’s first marriage can’t be prosecuted for bigamy, Madras high court has said. The court made the observations while allowing an anticipatory bail application moved by Rajalakshmi, who was arrayed as an accused in the FIR registered against Mayakrishnan for bigamy based on a complaint made by his first wife.
Since the petitioner was unaware of Mayakrishnan’s marriage to the complainant, she is not, prima facie, the person contemplated as an offender under Section 82(1) of the BNS, the court added.
“She (the petitioner) and the de facto complainant occupy, in the petitioner’s case, the position of the two women deceived and wronged by the same man, not that of an accused and her victim.” the court said. Citing orders passed by various high courts on the issue, the judge said, was only the spouse who marries again during the subsistence of the earlier marriage who can be prosecuted for bigamy, and that relatives or the second spouse cannot be roped in without material showing knowledge and participation.
“Whether that plea of want of knowledge is true is a matter for investigation and, if necessary, trial; but for the purpose of anticipatory bail, in the absence of any material placed by the prosecution to show that the petitioner was aware of the subsisting marriage, the case against her under Section 82 does not, at this stage, disclose the gravity that would justify custodial interrogation,” the judge said.