Bigamy: Man in Bihar fined for false declaration
A man, who had urged the Patna High Court to issue directions to get his wife released from the “illegal confinement” of her parents, was not only pulled up by the judges but also slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 for concealing facts while filing the writ petition.
A division bench of justices N P Singh and Justice A K Singh asked petitioner Govind Kumar to pay the amount as a cost for “frivolous litigation”, which was malafide and, therefore, not maintainable.
Govind had prayed to the court to help him get the custody of his wife Kalpana (name changed to protect her identity) who was confined to her parents’ house, even though they got their marriage registered under the Special Marriage Act. Kalpana was a Computer Science student and had been living with Govind, before being forcibly taken away by her parents.
Considering these facts, the High Court had asked the Senior SP of Patna to look into the matter and file an affidavit. But the judges were taken aback while going through the police reply.
The police, in its counter-affidavit (reply), said that Govind had misled the girl. While the fact that they registered their marriage was beyond dispute, Govind had concealed the information that he was already married and had a daughter. This was corroborated when the police interrogated the petitioner’s mother who admitted of his earlier marriage. Eventually, the police quizzed his first wife too who confirmed the birth of (their) daughter.
“When she (Kalpana) came to know about it, she not only walked out of Govind’s house but filed a divorce petition before the principal judge, family court, Patna,” said the Bench.
The counsel representing the state said the petitioner had made a false declaration while registering the marriage under Special Marriage Act. However, the petitioner’s counsel argued that bigamy was not prohibited, if the second wife did not complain.
The judges, however, rejected the petitioner’s counsel argument and observed: “The marriage was a registered marriage under the provisions of the Special Marriage Act in which the marriage can only be solemnised if there is no living spouse. Obviously, the petitioner had made deliberate false statements to get the marriage registered. Under Hindu Marriage Act, such a marriage is void. It is not in dispute that bigamous marriage is not a cognizable offence, which does not mean that it has the sanctity of law.”
