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Second wife can't allege bigamy if she knew of husband's first marriage: Bombay High Court

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In a significant ruling, the Bombay High Court has said a woman can't complain of bigamy if she knew about her husband's first wife at the time of marriage.

Who was accused of bigamy?
Justice Abhay Thipsay recently quashed the bigamy charge against Kishor Rambhau Mandalik, 45, alias Dada Maharaj while hearing his appeal. Mandalik runs an ashram at Ambegaon, Pune.
Mandalik's second wife had lodged a complaint with the police in November 2012 under sections of the Indian Penal Code for cheating and bigamy. The police had then filed a charge sheet against him.

What was the allegation?
She had alleged that Mandalik had lured her into marriage on the promise that he was in the process of getting a divorce. However, within a week of the wedding, he allegedly abandoned her, claiming he dreamt of his father warning him that if they remained in wedlock, it would bring them both misfortune.

Why did he approach HC?
The magistrate discharged the bigamy charge against Mandalik and retained only the cheating charge. The state government then challenged the magistrate's order before the sessions court. The sessions judge reversed the magistrate's order. Mandalik then challenged the sessions court order before the HC through advocate Rohan Nahar.

What did high court observe?
The HC observed that the second wife, in her FIR, said she was aware of Mandalik's first marriage when she married him. It noted: "The learned magistrate rightly took a view that she could not be treated as an 'aggrieved person', and therefore, in view of the provisions of section 198 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the cognizance of the alleged offence could not be taken at her instance."
Terming the order of the sessions judge as "patently incorrect", the HC set aside the order, observing that the order of the magistrate was "well reasoned".

What's the second wife's contention?
Advocate for the second wife Abhaykumar Apte argued that prima facie an offence punishable for bigamy has been disclosed from the facts stated in the police report.

But according to the judge...
"When cognizance of the offence punishable under section 494 of the IPC could not have been taken at all on the complaint of the second wife, who was aware of the first marriage, the question of taking such cognizance on the basis of a police report, on the ground that the case was a police case, was not proper," observed justice Thipsay.

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