Bigamy In Indian Penal Code
The offense of bigamy in English law has been created by Section 57 of the Offense Against Persons Act, 1861. R v. Tolson and R v. Wheat are the two important English cases.
In the R v. Dolman's case, had reasonable cause to believe and believed honestly that Mrs. Dolman was married to a man named Gray when she married him. Mr. Dolman subsequently married one Jenson because he believed that he had never been legally married to Mrs. Dolman. He was acquitted of the charge of bigamously marrying Jenson while in fact he was proved by the prosecution to be married to Mr.Dolman. On the facts, as Mr. Dolman believed them to be, he did not like or intend to marry during the life of his former wife because unlike Wheat he believed that he had never been legally married to the women proved by the prosecution to be his wife. If his belief had been true, he would not have had to rely on any proviso to section 57 of the Offenses Against Persons Act.
In India, bigamy is an offense under section 494 of the Indian Penal Code. The Indian court in the Bombay case under similar circumstances had taken a view different than that in Tolson's case. Section 494 of the Indian Penal Code makes a bigamous marriage, irrespective of an intention, an offense so that the plea of innocent or want of men's rea is no defense to a charge of bigamy under the code. However, if the spouse was continually absent for seven years and had not been heard of by such person as living, the other spouse is free to marry provided that the person marrying informs of these facts to the intended partner before marring. But where seven years have not elapsed before second marriage, the person marring may rely on the general exception provided he can show that he had made inquiries and had bona fide reasons to believe that the other party has died.
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