According to Section 494 of the Indian Penal Code, there are some exceptions when a second marriage becomes legal. The children of the second wife have the same rights as the children of the first wife. All of a man`s children fall into the class 1 heir category and enjoy an equal share of his ancestral property. The Supreme Court of India also holds that children born of a second marriage can claim the father`s property, even if the marital bond may be illegal. The second marriage, while the first marriage is at the subsistence level, is called bigamy. Simply put, bigamy means that a person marries for the second time while their first marriage exists. According to India`s marriage laws, bigamy is considered a criminal offense if the first husband or wife is still alive. In a case where the husband or wife is alive at that time, the second marriage contracted by a person is not legal and has no validity in the eyes of the law, that is, it is called a null marriage. Although bigamy is a criminal offence in India, it is still widespread. The practice of bigamy in India has been practiced since time immemorial. In the past, kings married more than one woman at a time for personal reasons. This practice was initiated by kings and rulers to expand their territories. The position of bigamy in India is certainly mentioned in the law, but the practice is still very common and therefore the contrast between law and social practice leads to the fact that second wives do not have enough protection.
India is a huge country with great cultural diversity. It includes different religions, castes and beliefs of people. The Indian constitution seeks to protect every citizen. Therefore, there are several personal laws that govern people of different religions. The key law that prevents bigamy in India is the Indian Penal Code, but in case personal laws do not explicitly stipulate the punishment for bigamy or make bigamy illegal, no one can be charged with the crime of bigamy at present. Bigamy is prohibited in India under Section 494 of the Indian Penal Code. The law stipulates that anyone who marries another person during the lifetime of his or her spouse must treat such a marriage as null and void on the basis of his or her life during the life of that husband or wife and punish for such an offence. If someone marries more than once in the life of their first spouse, they should be punished with imprisonment, which can be up to seven years, and is also liable to a fine. In this case too, the second marriage is valid. Therefore, he grants the second wife rights to her husband`s property. Since the first wife divorced under the current law, she has no rights to her ex-spouse`s property. However, their children remain the class 1 heirs of man and can assert their rights to ancestral property.
The document states: “Although, for reasons of reasoning, it is presumed that the appellant (second wife) was kept in the dark about the respondent`s (husband`s) first marriage, the appellant`s assertion that she was the respondent`s legally married wife cannot be accepted after proving this fact.” “Even if, for the sake of argument, it is assumed that the appellant (second wife) was left in the dark about the respondent`s (husband`s) first marriage, the second wife cannot claim the property inherited from her first husband. However, this does not apply in the case where the husband is entitled to a second wife of the property he has acquired independently. Since the husband and the first wife are co-owners of the property, the second wife has the right to claim the part of the property that belongs to her. However, regardless of the legal status of the second marriage, the second wife does not have the legal authority to claim possession, as noted above. On the other hand, if the first wife died, the second wife would have the right to claim the corresponding property. A second wife can file an application for fraud and bigamy and ask the court to annul such a marriage. From case to case, several different courts have taken different positions on the second wife`s property rights in India. In this section, we will discuss some of the events that took place and how these events affected the second wife`s legal position in relation to her property rights. Since this second marriage is legally inviolable, the second wife and her children can assert their property rights as legal heirs of the husband`s class 1. The children of the first wife and second wife have equal rights to property.
Sheetaldeen (husband) was abandoned by his first wife Sukhrana Bai and married Vidyadhari (second wife), with whom he had four children in the case Vidyadhari & Ors v. Sukhrana Bai & Ors. The husband has nominated his second wife as a candidate and she is entitled to all the benefits of her employment, as well as a certificate of inheritance for her four children. When both wives applied for probate certificates after Sheetaldeen`s death, the court sided with Vidyadhari, while the Madhya Pradesh Supreme Court sided with Sukhrana Bai. If the second marriage takes place without divorce from the first wife, the second wife cannot claim the property because her second marriage to her husband is null and void. While children born of the second marriage must divide ancestral property with other Class 1 heirs, they may become the sole owners of his or her self-acquired property if he leaves a will expressing such an intention. Whether they are children of the first or second wife, the children would therefore have equal rights to the deceased patriarch`s real estate (acquired and inherited). The property rights of the first and second wives, as well as their children, are extremely ambiguous, so it is necessary to invoke justice in the many laws in order to render an appropriate judgment. If the second marriage is contracted after her divorce from the first wife or after the death of the first wife, the second marriage is sanctioned by law and the second wife has all rights to her husband`s ancestral and acquired property (and is under the Class 1 heirs of her husband).
The legality of marriage, as described in the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and the right of children to claim property, as described in the Hindu Succession Act, 1955, as well as other laws, govern the rights of the wife and her children in respect of the husband`s property. These laws therefore regulate the rights of women and their children. But what about the rights of the second wife and the children she had with the first husband? It is necessary to refer to both the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act 1956 and the Hindu Succession Act 1956 when dealing with the post-marital rights of the wife in respect of the husband`s property. The law of these laws grants the wife absolute rights over the husband`s property upon his death. If the husband dies, these rights cannot be diminished by the wife`s subsequent marriage or the adoption of a child. However, some complications arise when the husband marries a second wife. Case III: If the husband remarries after the divorce of the first wife, the children of the first marriage, the second wife and the children of the second marriage all receive an equal share of the patriarch`s property with the property rights of the second wife. The exception to this rule would be the first woman who would receive nothing from the inheritance. Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 provides that any Hindu person may solemnly enter into the second marriage if the following cases have been performed by one of the spouses. In deciding the outcome of some cases, the courts have declared that a second wife whose marriage to her husband is null and void has the right to file an application for spousal support if she can prove that she was unaware of her husband`s previous marriage. At the time, she married him.
A woman may sue under section 18 of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 or under section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, section 488 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. There must be a law that clearly speaks to the property rights of the second wife so that she can live a healthy life and survive. The law must fix each specific part of her husband`s property, which may be ancestral or acquired by himself, to the second wife, so that she can have shelter on herself and live her life with a minimum of necessities. Different courts have taken different positions on the property rights of the second wife on a case-by-case basis. Here we list certain circumstances and how they affect the legal situation of the second wife in relation to her property rights. In the case of a valid second marriage, the second wife enjoys all property rights in the same manner as the first wife under the provisions of section 5 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. In the case of a marriage declared null and void by law, the second wife does not have this right of succession. Only the second wife has the right to request the annulment of her marriage.