Madras high court directs action against public servants committing bigamy

MADURAI: Observing that bigamous marriage is a misconduct and an offence under the IPC, the Madurai bench of the Madras high court on Friday directed the Tamil Nadu government to initiate disciplinary proceedings against public servants committing bigamy and register criminal cases against them.
R Thenmozhi, who is the second wife of a deceased police officer, moved the HC seeking retirement benefits and other terminal monetary benefits of her husband.
Justice S M Subramaniam observed that in many number of cases, illegal marriages were not identified, when the public servants are in service and in most of the cases, the counter claims are arising only after the retirement of the public servants or in the event of their deaths.
The judge stated that in spite of the Conduct Rules stating that bigamous marriage is a misconduct and an offence under the IPC, the authorities of various departments across the state are absolutely insensitive towards such issues.
"The authorities competent as well as the higher officials in the police department, on information of any such offence of bigamous marriage, must immediately act and initiate all further actions against the public servants. In the event of initiating swift actions, the evil consequences of such bigamous marriages can be brought down to the extent possible," the judge observed.
The judge cited that as per the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Pension Rules, 1978, a government servant is bound to nominate the spouse alone for the purpose of grant of family pension.
Rejecting the relief sought by the petitioner, the judge directed the secretary to the personal and administrative reforms department to issue guidelines as well as the procedures to be followed. Accordingly, the name of the spouse of a public servant should be entered into respective service records after ascertaining the genuineness of the same and after conducting proper verification in order to protect the interest of the legally wedded spouse of the public servant.
The judge further directed the secretary to enter a clause in the instructions by stating that in the event of identifying any misconduct or the offence of bigamous marriage, departmental disciplinary proceedings would be initiated and a criminal case also would be registered under the provisions of the IPC.