Bigamy and cruelty protections extend to a deceived second wife, and cognizance on police report can remain valid.

A woman induced into a void second marriage by concealment of the first marriage is an aggrieved person entitled to complain under the bigamy and concealment provisions of the Penal Code. A State amendment making those offences cognizable, with Presidential assent, prevails in Andhra Pradesh and permits police investigation and cognizance on a police report, even where the procedural bar in the Criminal Procedure Code would otherwise apply. Proceedings under cruelty provisions cannot be quashed merely because the complainant is later asserted not to be a legally wedded wife; a person treated as a wife remains protected by the provision's purposive scope.

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Issues: (i) whether a woman who contracts a second marriage by concealment of the first marriage is an aggrieved person entitled to maintain a complaint for offences under Sections 494 and 495 of the Indian Penal Code; (ii) whether, after the Andhra Pradesh amendment making those offences cognizable, the police could investigate and the Magistrate could take cognizance on a police report despite Section 198(1)(c) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973; and (iii) whether proceedings under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code could be quashed on the ground that the complainant was not a legally wedded wife.

Issue (i): whether a woman who contracts a second marriage by concealment of the first marriage is an aggrieved person entitled to maintain a complaint for offences under Sections 494 and 495 of the Indian Penal Code.

Analysis: The expression "aggrieved person" was construed in the context of the object of the provisions against bigamy and concealment. A woman who is induced into a void second marriage suffers legal injury and social prejudice, and the offence under Section 495 is an aggravated form of bigamy under Section 494. The complainant who is the second wife, having been misled by concealment of the former marriage, falls within the class of persons injured by the offence.

Conclusion: The second wife is entitled to maintain the complaint under Sections 494 and 495 of the Indian Penal Code.

Issue (ii): whether, after the Andhra Pradesh amendment making those offences cognizable, the police could investigate and the Magistrate could take cognizance on a police report despite Section 198(1)(c) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

Analysis: The State amendment, having received Presidential assent, prevailed in Andhra Pradesh under Article 254(2) of the Constitution of India and made Sections 494 and 495 cognizable and non-bailable for purposes of the Code. Once the case also included a cognizable offence under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code, Section 155(4) treated the matter as cognizable. The bar in Section 198(1)(c) could not be read in isolation so as to defeat the amended scheme, and police investigation followed by cognizance on the report was lawful.

Conclusion: The investigation and cognizance on the police report were valid and no quashing was warranted on that ground.

Issue (iii): whether proceedings under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code could be quashed on the ground that the complainant was not a legally wedded wife.

Analysis: The provision was given a purposive construction in light of its object of preventing cruelty in a marital arrangement. A person who enters into such a relationship and is treated as a wife cannot be denied the protection of Section 498A merely because the marriage is later asserted to be void. The contrary view was inconsistent with the binding precedent and could not sustain quashing.

Conclusion: Quashing of the proceedings under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code was incorrect and the proceedings were liable to be restored.

Final Conclusion: The challenge to the refusal to quash the prosecution failed, while the order setting aside the proceedings under Section 498A could not stand and was reversed, leaving the prosecution to continue in accordance with law.

Ratio Decidendi: The term "aggrieved person" in the context of bigamy provisions includes the woman deceived into the void second marriage, and where a State amendment validly makes the offence cognizable with Presidential assent, the police may investigate and the Magistrate may take cognizance on the police report notwithstanding the pre-existing procedural bar.

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