VIGILANCE MANUAL VOLUME III - AP Online

DECISION - 316
647
the factum of her marriage with the petitioner and that she made the
allegation earlier at the instance of the RTC authorities. This was
enough to allow the writ petition on the ground that there is no evidence
to believe that the petitioner has taken a second wife during the life
time of his first wife. But the High Court examined the other limb of
the controversy as to who is the first living wife of the petitioner, or to
be more specific whether Jayamma was his first wife. It is contended
that the petitioner had in his explanation to the charge sheet admitted
that he married Jayamma according to caste custom. It is further
stated that admittedly Jayamma was already married to one
Munuswamy and the petitioner has been living with her, and the
marriage of the petitioner with Jayamma is bigamous and it is null
and void. This statement is totally devoid of any legal substance.
The first marriage of the petitioner with Jayamma cannot be a
bigamous union for the simple reason that it is always the second
marriage, which would be deemed to be bigamous. Jayamma was
already married to one Munuswamy who is stated to be living and
the marriage tie between Jayamma and Munuswamy still subsists
and the question that arises is whether the marriage between
Jayamma and the petitioner is a valid marriage in the eye of law. It is
an accepted principle of law that in order to bring home the charge of
bigamy or for that matter to prove the guilt of the accused person
under sec. 494 of the Indian Penal Code, it must be proved that the
first marriage is legally valid. The marriage during the subsistence
of a former marriage and during the lifetime of the first husband of
Jayamma i.e. Munuswamy is no marriage at all. At the most it may be
a case of adultery involving moral turpitude. The association with the
other countless women may reflect upon the character of the petitioner
as one who is of a licentious nature, but there is no substance in a
finding that he has been entertaining two wives at a time.