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Synopsis

In a significant ruling, the Patna High Court has held that even if a wife grants consent to her husband's second marriage, she retains the right to file a complaint against him under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for cruelty.

The judgment was pronounced by a division bench of Justices Pavankumar Bajanthri and Jitendra Kumar in a plea wherein the appellant-husband had argued that he had entered into a second marriage in 2004 with the prior consent of his first wife, whom he had married in May 1978. However, the bench refused to accept this argument, noting that the second marriage had ended in 2005, and in 2010, the first wife had filed a case under Section 498A against her husband for causing cruelty to her.

The high court ruled that the act of entering into a second marriage, even with the consent of the first wife, itself amounted to cruelty. The bench stated, "As common knowledge, such second marriages are not tolerated by any wife, and that is why entering into a second marriage itself amounts to cruelty to the first wife, giving her reason to live separately and giving cause of action to file complaint cases under Section 498A."

Court also emphasized that merely lodging criminal cases under Section 498A by the wife cannot be construed as cruelty to the husband.

The case before the high court stemmed from an appeal filed by the husband challenging a July 2017 order of a family court at Sheikhpura that had dismissed his plea for divorce.

According to the husband's plea, he had initially married his first wife in 1978. However, their relationship deteriorated following the birth of their daughter, leading them to live separately. In 2004, he entered into a second marriage after obtaining the prior consent of his first wife. Subsequently, in 2010, the first wife initiated legal action by filing a complaint under Section 498A and Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act and lodging a second criminal case under Section 498A.

The husband sought anticipatory bail in both cases, which the High Court granted with a directive to pay Rs 5,000 per month to his first wife as maintenance. Additionally, an amount of Rs 5 lakh was ordered to be paid towards their daughter's marriage expenses.

After their daughter's marriage in 2013, the husband requested his first wife to consent to mutual divorce, which she rejected. Consequently, he filed for divorce on grounds of cruelty under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, alleging that the cases filed by his wife were false and intended to harass him.

However, the family court rejected husband's plea, leading to his appeal before the Patna High Court. In its ruling, the high court stated that the husband had failed to prove that the two cases filed by his first wife under Section 498A were false and fabricated and had been filed to harass him.

The high court concluded, "As such, we find that there is no merit in the present appeal warranting any interference in the impugned judgment. The Family Court has rightly dismissed the matrimonial case of the husband seeking divorce. The present appeal is dismissed."

Case Title: Arun Kumar Singh Alias Arun Singh v. Nirmala Devi