Supreme Court modifies sentence in bigamy case, orders staggered jail terms for couple
Justices CT Ravikumar & Sanjay Kumar [15-07-2024]

Read Order: Baba Natarajan Prasad v. M. Revathi[SC- Criminal Appeal No. 2912 of 2024]

LE Correspondent

New Delhi, July 15, 2024:The Supreme Court has modified the sentence awarded to a couple convicted of bigamy under Section 494 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The apex court ordered the accused, M. Revathi and her second husband, to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of six months each.

The case relates to a complaint filed by Baba Natarajan Prasad, the husband of M. Revathi, accusing her of marrying another person during the subsistence of their marriage. The trial court had earlier convicted Revathi and her second husband for bigamy and sentenced them to one year rigorous imprisonment each. However, on appeal, the Madras High Court reduced their sentence to imprisonment till the rising of the court, which was challenged by Prasad before the Supreme Court.

In its judgment, the Supreme Court held that bigamy is a serious offence and courts should not take a lenient view in such cases. The court noted that while no minimum sentence is prescribed under Section 494 IPC, awarding a sentence of imprisonment till rising of the court for a conviction of bigamy amounted to undeserving leniency. However, taking into account that a young child was born from the second marriage, and to avoid sending both parents to jail simultaneously, the Supreme Court directed a staggered sentence.

The Top Court ordered that the second husband should first surrender within 3 weeks to serve his sentence of six months simple imprisonment. Thereafter, within 2 weeks of his release, Revathi should surrender to serve her 6-month jail term. The court emphasized that this arrangement should not be treated as a precedent and was being ordered in view of the special circumstances that a 6-year-old child was involved. The court also imposed a fine of Rs. 2,000 each on the convicts.