#Bigamy

Karnataka High Court holds that a bigamous marriage under Section 5(1) of the Hindu Marriage Act is void from inception, stripping the husband of succession rights under Section 15 of the Hindu Succession Act. The ruling reinforces that void marriages confer no legal entitlement to inheritance, impacting property disputes involving bigamous unions.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has ruled that a woman’s failure to obtain a divorce from a prior marriage does not invalidate her right to maintenance under Section 125 CrPC. This clarifies that statutory maintenance is a right tied to marital status and financial need, not marital purity, protecting vulnerable women trapped in unrecognized or unresolvable unions.

MP High Court rules that a Muslim man's second marriage during the subsistence of the first does not constitute bigamy under Section 494 IPC, upholding the exemption under Muslim Personal Law. The judgment reinforces the legal distinction between criminal bigamy and permissible polygamy for Muslims, impacting matrimonial disputes involving Muslim couples.

Madras High Court directs issuance of legal heir certificate to the first wife and children where the second wife is deceased without children, holding that administrative authorities must verify heirship without mandating civil court proceedings. The ruling clarifies that straightforward succession cases do not require judicial intervention, streamlining property inheritance for affected families.

Bombay High Court holds that a woman cannot claim maintenance under Section 125 CrPC if her prior marriage remains legally undissolved, even if she entered a subsequent ceremonial marriage.

Bombay High Court holds that prosecution under Section 494 IPC must prove valid ceremonial marriage, not mere allegations or hearsay evidence from uncorroborated witnesses.

Supreme Court quashes FIR under Section 376(2)(n) IPC holding that a married woman cannot be duped into sex by false promise of marriage, as bigamy is legally impossible.