JUDGEMENT
Happell, J -
(1.)This is a petition to revise the judgment of the Special First Glass Magistrate, Devakottai, in Calendar Case No. 76 of 1944, by which he has acquitted the first and third accused in that case. The 1 accused was baptised a Roman Catholic and married his first wife in a Roman Catholic Church. The complainant P.W. 1 is a protestant and in 1930, after the death of his first wife, the 1 accused married her in a Protestant Church, the ceremony being performed by a Protestant Pastor. Two children were born of the marriage. On 19 May, 1942, the complainant executed a release deed Ex. 1, in favour of the 1 accused--the relevance of this deed will appear later. On 16 September, 1943, the 1 accused married the 2nd accused in a Roman Catholic Church, the ceremony being performed by the 3 accused, a Roman Catholic Priest. Thereafter on 14 December, 1943, P.W. 1 filed a complaint in the Court of the Joint Magistrate of Ramnad charging the 1 and 2nd accused with the offence of bigamy punishable under Section 494 of the Indian Penal Code, and the 3 accused with abetment of the offence.
(2.)Section 494 of the Indian Penal Code reads: Whoever, having a husband or wife living, marries in any case in which such marriage is void by reason of its taking place during the life of such husband or wife, shall be punished, etc.
(3.)The marriage between the 1 accused and the complainant in 1930 was a marriage solemnised under the provisions of the Indian Christian Marriage Act (Act XV of 1872). Section 1 of that Act states that the Act " extends to the whole of British India " and Section 4 provides that: Every marriage between persons one or both of whom is (or are) a Christian or Christiansj shall be solemnised in accordance with the provisions of the next following section; and any such marriage solemnised otherwise than in accordance with such provisions shall be void.
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