BENGALURU: Bigamy is a continuing offence and consent given by a wife or wives would be immaterial for considering the offence, the HC observed in a recent judgement, while refusing to quash proceedings against a man and his third wife, reports Vasanth Kumar.
However, proceedings against four others - relatives and friends of the accused - have been quashed. Anand C alias Anku Gowda, 77, his third wife and four others had challenged the proceedings pending before a Channapatna court.
Petitioner: Inordinate 25-yr delay in filing complaint
Anand C, his third wife Varalakshmi,both from Bengaluru, and four others had challenged the proceedings pending before a Channapatna court for offences under sections 494 (bigamy) and 109 (abetment) of IPC.
The proceedings were based on a complaint lodged in 2018 by Anand's first wife Chandramma. Anand married Chandramma on May 2, 1968. Four years later, he married her younger sister Savithramma. He had three children from Chandramma (one of whom is dead) and two from Savithramma.
On April 12, 1993, Anand married Varalakshmi. Trouble began in 2015 when Anand executed a property gift deed in favour of Varalakshmi. Apart from Chandramma filing a complaint, her two daughters filed a separate civil suit against their father and Varalakshmi.
In a petition before the high court, Anand said Chandramma had given consent to his second marriage and that both Chandramma and Savithramma had consented for his third marriage with Varalakshmi.
Anand said he had divided family properties equally among them and they all lived together. He alleged "an inordinate 25-year delay" in filing a complaint against his third marriage. Chandramma's counsel argued Anand married Varalakshmi concealing that he is already married. This amounts to bigamy, he argued.
Justice M Nagaprasanna said the assertion that the wife (complainant) was aware about the bigamy is "legally immaterial". "In the teeth of the admitted facts of the petitioner marrying thrice and its subsistence even as on day, the plea of delay in registration of the crime would pale into insignificance, as bigamy in the case at hand is a continuing offence," the judge said, adding that proceedings will be continued as far as section 494 goes.
"The act of bigamy, generally, is a triangle involving the husband, the first wife and the second wife. This is a peculiar case where it is a quadrangle...," the judge said.
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