Couple receives 6-month jail sentence for bigamy, allowed alternative prison term by Supreme Court

The Supreme Court yesterday sentenced a woman and her second husband to six months in jail each for committing bigamy, setting aside a Madras High Court which had let off the couple with a “flea-bite sentence”. The woman had remarried while her divorce proceedings were still pending before a family court. A Supreme Court bench led by CT Ravikumar and PV Sanjay Kumar observed that bigamy was a “serious offence which impacts society” and stated that it’s not advisable to let off the accused with a light sentence.

To ensure that the couple’s six-year-old child is taken care of, the Supreme Court ordered that the husband will serve his sentence first and after he completes his term, the woman is to surrender. The top court emphasized that this arrangement should not be treated as a precedent as it was ordered in these special circumstances. The Supreme Court was hearing a petition filed by the woman’s first husband challenging a Madras High Court order that had sentenced the couple for just a day till the “rising of the court”.

The top court stated that a “flea-bite sentence” by the Madras High Court was inadequate for a serious offence. The Supreme Court stressed the importance of imposing a sentence in tune with the rule of proportionality in providing punishment for serious offences that may impact society. It observed that in the absence of any exceptional circumstances, courts must impose a sentence in line with the realm of judicial discretion.