Sentence of imprisonment till rising of court is too less for bigamy: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Monday said that a sentence of imprisonment for a day till the rising of the court is too lenient for those convicted for the offence of bigamy..A Bench of Justices CT Ravikumar and PV Sanjay Kumar underscored that the rule of proportionality needs to be followed while imposing punishments, to promote and bring about order in the society."We have no option but to hold that imposition of sentence of ‘imprisonment till the rising of the court’ upon conviction for an offence under Section 494 IPC, on them was unconscionably lenient or a flea-bite sentence," the Court said..The observations came while hearing an appeal against a Madras High Court verdict that had done away with the prison sentence imposed on two persons convicted for bigamy. The allegation in the appellant's complaint was that the first accused who was his wife, married the second accused during the pendency of the divorce proceedings before a family court between theThe appellant was the first husband of the woman who married the second accused during the pendency of divorce proceedings. It was his contention that the woman's second marriage was during the subsistence of the nuptial bond with the appellant.The appellant accused the wife and the second husband of committing bigamous marriage and the parents of the first accused were accused of abetting the said offence.The trial Court acquitted the parents of the first accused but convicted the first and second accused, under Section 494 IPC, and sentenced them to undergo one year rigorous imprisonment each and imposed a fine of ₹2,000. On appeal, a Sessions Court acquitted the two accused which prompted the appellant to move the High Court.The High Court upheld the acquittal of the parents but overturned the acquittal of the first and second accused. However, it sentenced them to imprisonment till the rising of the court and fine of ₹20,000.The appellant then moved the Supreme Court against the sentence..The top court noted that bigamy was viewed as a strict offence by the legislature when it penalised the same since it impacted the society."In the matter of awarding sentence for conviction of an offence which may impact the society, it is not advisable to let off an accused after conviction with a flea-bite sentence ... in the absence of any exceptional circumstances, [Courts must] impose sentence in tune with the rule of proportionality in providing punishment though it falls within the realm of judicial discretion." it observed..The appeal was, thus, eventually allowed.The imprisonment was enhanced to six months' simple imprisonment including the period already undergone. The fine was reduced from ₹20,000 to ₹2,000 each.Pertinently, the Court took into consideration the fact that the accused have a six-year-old child to take care of. Hence, the man was directed to serve out his sentence first separately followed by the woman."In case the accused Nos.1 and 2 do not surrender in terms of this judgment on their own, the trial Court shall resort to appropriate steps in accordance with law to place them in custody and make them suffer the sentence," it was clarified..Senior Advocate R Basant appeared for the appellant (first husband). Advocate Ratnakar Das appeared for the wife..[Read Judgment]