Offenses relating to Marriage

Introduction :

 Chapter XX (section 493- 498), IPC, deals with offenses relating to marriage.

 All these offenses deal with infidelity within the institution of marriage in one way or
another.

 Chapter XX-A, containing only one section (s 498A) dealing with cruelty to a woman by
her husband or his relatives to coerce her and her parents to meet the material greed of
dowry, was added to the IPC by the Criminal Law (Second Amendment) Act 1983.

The following are the main offenses under this chapter:

 Mock or invalid marriages (ss 493 and 496);

 Bigamy (ss 494 and 495);
 Adultery (s 497);
 Criminal elopement (s 498);
 Cruelty by husband or relatives of husband (s 498A)

Meaning & Scope :

Section 493: Cohabitation caused by a man deceitfully inducing a belief of lawful marriage

Every man who by deceit causes any woman who is not lawfully married to him to believe that
she is lawfully married to him and to cohabit or have sexual intercourse with him in that belief,

Punishment :

Imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be
liable to fine.

Section 496-Marriage ceremony fraudulently gone through without lawful marriage

Whoever, dishonestly or with a fraudulent intention, goes through the ceremony of being
married, knowing that he is not thereby lawfully married.

Punishment :

Imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be
liable to fine.
The essential elements of both the sections :

 The essential elements of both the sections i.e. 493 and 496, is that the accused should
have practiced deception on the woman, as a consequence of which she is led to believe
that she is lawfully married to him, though in reality she is not.

 In s 493, the word used is ‘deceit’ and in s 496, the words ‘dishonestly’ and ‘fraudulent
intention’ have been used.

 Basically both the sections denote the fact that the woman is cheated by the man into
believing that she is legally wedded to him, whereas the man is fully aware that the same
is not true. The deceit and fraudulent intention should exist at the time of the marriage.

 Thus mens rea is an essential element of an offence under this section.

Section 495: Same offence with concealment of former marriage from person with whom
subsequent marriage is contracted

Whoever commits the offence defined in the last preceding section having concealed from the
person with whom the subsequent marriage is contracted, the fact of the former marriage

Punishment :

Imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be
liable to fine.

The essential ingredients are:

 existence of a previous marriage

 second marriage to be valid
 second marriage to be void by reason of first husband or wife living.
 Sec.494 :Offence of bigamy or marrying again during lifetime of husband
or wife

Introduction :
The offence of bigamy or marrying again during lifetime of husband or wife is
punishable under Section 494 of the Penal Code (S. 494) and under Section 17 of
the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

Meaning & Scope :

The Sections reads as:

Section 494. Marrying again during lifetime of husband or wife.:

Whoever, having a husband or wife living, marries in any case in which such
marriage is void by reason of its taking place during the life of such husband or
wife.

Punishment :

Imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and
shall also be liable to fine.

Exception.—This section does not extend to any person whose marriage with such
husband or wife has been declared void by a Court of competent jurisdiction, nor to
any person who contracts a marriage during the life of a former husband or wife, if
such husband or wife, at the time of the subsequent marriage, shall have been
continually absent from such person for the space of seven years, and shall not
have been heard of by such person as being alive within that time provided the
person contracting such subsequent marriage shall, before such marriage takes
place, inform the person with whom such marriage is contracted of the real state of
facts so far as the same are within his or her knowledge.

Hindu Marriage Act, 1955

Section 17. Punishment of bigamy.—Any marriage between two Hindus

(including Buddhist, Jaina or Sikh) solemnized after the commencement of this Act is
void if at the date of such marriage either party had a husband or wife living; and
the provisions of Sections 494 and 495 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) shall
apply accordingly.

Classification of Offence:

The offence of Bigamy is non-cognizable (except in State of Andhra Pradesh).  Also,

the offence is bailable (except in the State of Andhra Pradesh).
Cases:

Ingredients of offence of Bigamy:

For an offence of bigamy to have been committed the following ingredients are
required (i) the accused must have contracted first marriage (ii) he/she must have
married again (iii) the first marriage must be subsisting (that is no divorce has taken
place) (iv) the first spouse must be living, Pashaura Singh v. State of
Punjab, (2010) 11 SCC 749

Who can file complaint?

Only a person aggrieved by his or her spouse contracting the second marriage can
file the complaint.
In the case of the husband, only the husband, except where he is serving in the
Armed Forces and cannot get leave to file the complaint.
In the case of the wife, she herself or her father, mother, brother, sister, son or
daughter or her father’s or mother’s brother or sister, or with the leave of the Court
any other person related to her by blood, marriage or adoption.

 Section 198 Criminal Procedure Code:

Proof of Bigamy :

To prove the offence of Bigamy, the prosecution must prove that the second
marriage was valid, S. Nagalingam v. Sivagami, (2001) 7 SCC 487.

Compoundable Offence:

The offence is compoundable with the consent of the wife and permission of the
court, Parameswari v. Vennila, (2000) 10 SCC 348.

Departmental Enquiry:

Even if a person is acquitted in a criminal case for bigamy a departmental enquiry

can be conducted against him/her, State of Karnataka v. T.
Venkataramanappa, (1996) 6 SCC 455.

Limitation

There is no limitation period for taking cognizance of the offence of bigamy. [That is,
it does not matter how long ago the second marriage was contracted, the criminal
process can be started]. M. Saravana Porselvi v. A.R. Chandrashekar, (2008) 11 SCC
520.

Who can be punished?

The Kerala High Court has held that Section 494 IPC does not discriminate between
Hindu/ Muslim/ Christian and can be proceeded against any citizen who commits the
offence of bigamy irrespective of his/her personal law, provided that ingredients of
Section 494 are made out. Venugopal K. v. Union of India, 2015 SCC OnLine Ker
798.