The Kerala High Court had declared that incase a party enters into another marriage while the appeal for the decree of divorce of the previous marriage is still ongoing and pending, they shall not be proved or considered guilty of the said offence namely, bigamy under S.494 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) incase the appeal is eventually dismissed.
While allowance of a petition that is filed under S.482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in order to remove the complaint that claimed bigamy, the Court ruled and said that S.15 of the Hindu Marriage Act (HMA) does not overrule S.28 of the Hindu Marriage Act, which provides the right of appeal. This was the observation that had come in a case wherein a woman had supposedly alleged that her husband had entered into a second marriage during the time of the appeal as against the existing decree of divorce.
The man was thus in accordance booked for the offences as under S.494, 114 r/w S.34 of the IPC. Since he felt aggrieved by this, he decided to approach the Court. The question before the Court was that of whether this offence as under S.494 and 114 IPC would stand to attract especially in case of a second marriage being solemnized after the decree of divorce of the first marriage but only before the completion of its appeal.
