Setting aside the departmental punishment awarded to a policeman on the charge of bigamy, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has held that a plea of customary divorce was a valid defence in departmental proceedings.
The court was hearing the petition filed by Sudalaimani, who sought to set aside the punishment imposed on him on the charge of bigamy. He was awarded the punishment of reduction in the rank from Head Constable to Grade I constable for two years.
Departmental proceedings were initiated against the petitioner after he married a woman Sub-Inspector, while his first wife, a staff nurse, was living with their two children. The petitioner said he had obtained a customary divorce from his first wife.
Justice RMT Teekaa Raman took cognisance of the fact that due to misunderstanding, the petitioner and his first wife obtained a customary divorce as per the custom prevailing in their community and it was reduced into writing.
Only after the dissolution of the first marriage, he contracted the second marriage. The plea raised by the delinquent about the prevalence of the customary divorce in their community was also accepted by the first wife.
The court said the disciplinary proceedings could be initiated even if the second marriage was contracted with the knowledge of the first wife, so also even if the first wife did not prosecute the husband for the same.
A plea of customary divorce was a valid defence in a departmental proceedings initiated for misconduct of bigamy under the Service Rules/Conduct Rules, and to substantiate the plea of customary divorce a specific plea had to be raised in the statement of defence by the delinquent officer and had to be proved on up to the decree of preponderance of probability and execution of the customary divorce as projected by the delinquent, the court said.