| Citation | REFERENCE: CrlA No. 118 of 2022 |
| Date of judgment | 21 January 2022 |
| Court | The Supreme Court Of India |
| Case Type | Criminal case |
| Appellant | Musstt Rehana Begum |
| Respondent | State of Assam |
| Bench | Dr. Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud, B.M. Trivedi |
Facts
- Rehana Begum filed a criminal case against her husband for abusing and harassing her for dowry. Rehana begum and 2nd respondent (her husband) were married as per Muslim Law in 1996.
- According to the 2nd respondent (her husband) Rehana was married before 1996 to someone else and she never disclosed this to her husband as to why he filed a complaint against her for bigamy.
- 2nd respondent gave divorce documents according to the Muslim law in the presence of Sadar Kazi. Rehana Begum filed a complaint against her husband for abusing and harassing her for dowry.
- 2nd respondent approached the court but the trial court asked him for the legal documents of the divorce but the respondent didn’t have any proof to prove.
- The family court declared the divorce as null and void. Because the court needs some legal documents and proper reason to give divorce.
- The 2nd respondent also filed a case against Rehana Begum for bigamy under section 494 of Indian Penal Code.
- 2nd respondent also demanded for section- 482 of CRPC. The high court made an observation that the appeal for 482 of CRPC is highly disputed because the respondent did not provide enough proof to prove the 1st marriage. whether the appellant ( rehana begum) had entered into a marital tie with another person prior to the marriage with the respondent and whether the earlier marriage ended with proper divorce.
- The petition under section 482 of CRPC got dismissed by the high court.
Issues
- Whether the criminal complaint against the appellant can be quashed based on the findings of the family court under section 482 of crpc.
- Whether the allegation which was imposed by the 2nd respondent to the appellant was clear enough to get the case in favour of him?
Judgement
Firstly the family court declared the divorce null and void.
The high court dismissed the application for quashing the complaint filed by the appellant on grounds of not enough evidence. The respondent did not have any proper evidence of the 1st marriage of the appellant. It is observed by the court that the documents given by the respondent were fake. Rehana begum was single before her marriage with the 2nd respondent and her husband did not have proof to prove that she was married before. The court said that rehana begum was proven right. The Supreme Court allowed her for quashing the complaint and undergoing the impugned judgement of the high court. The Justices allowed rehana begum’s appeal.
References
https://indiankanoon.org/doc/34918496
Can a complaint under Bigamy be quashed on Family Court’s findings?
This article is written by kumkum of Lloyd Law College, Intern at Legal Vidhiya.
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