On July 15, the Supreme Court sentenced a woman and her second husband to six months in jail each for committing bigamy. The Court crafted a compassionate sentencing plan, considering the couple’s six-year-old child, allowing the two to serve their sentences alternately so one parent is always with the child.
The case involved a woman who remarried while still legally married to her first husband. Her first husband filed a complaint, challenging an earlier judgment by the Madras High Court in August 2022. The High Court had given both the woman and her second husband a light punishment—”imprisonment till the rising of the court.” The Supreme Court criticized this as a “flea-bite sentence” and deemed it inadequate for the severity of the crime.
The Supreme Court emphasized that punishment must reflect the seriousness of the offense and the offender’s conduct. The Court warned that lenient sentences in serious cases like bigamy could harm society’s moral fabric. It further underscored that proportionality in sentencing is key to upholding civic order and maintaining trust in the legal system.
In its ruling, the bench highlighted the need to balance societal interests with victims’ rights. In this case, the woman had continued to receive alimony from her first husband until two months before giving birth to a child with her second husband, further complicating the issue.
Bigamy is a crime under Section 494 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which allows for up to seven years of imprisonment. This provision has been carried over to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which replaced the IPC in July 2023.
Recognizing that leniency was undeserved in this case, the Supreme Court enhanced the punishment for both the woman and her second husband to six months in prison. However, in a unique decision, the Court arranged for their sentences to be served one after the other, ensuring one parent remains available to care for their child. The Court made it clear that this arrangement should not be considered a legal precedent, but was made in light of the specific circumstances of this case.
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