'No Valid Marriage Between Parties': Gauhati High Court Sets Aside Man's Conviction U/S 498A IPC

The Gauhati High Court on Tuesday (June 3) set aside a judgment and order passed by a Trial Court by which it convicted and sentenced an accused under Section 498A IPC, on the ground that there was no valid marriage that could confer upon the victim the status of a 'wife' as required to invoke Section 498A IPC.

The single judge bench of Justice Mitali Thakuria observed as follows:

“Upon examining the Judgment and Order dated 20.12.2012 passed by the learned Appellate Court, it appears that while the issue of applicability of Section 498A IPC was discussed, the Court did not arrive at a clear finding regarding the existence of a valid marriage or whether the essential ingredients of Section 498A were fulfilled. Instead, the Appellate Court proceeded to affirm the conviction based solely on the fact that the accused/petitioner and the victim were seen cohabiting and that she was allegedly subjected to cruelty in connection with a demand for dowry.”

The Court was hearing an application under Sections 397, read with Sections 401 and 482 of the CrPC, seeking to set aside the Judgment and Order dated December 20, 2012 passed by the Sessions Judge, Dhemaji which upheld and modified the Judgment dated September 29, 2012 passed by the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Dhemaji.

The petitioner-accused was originally convicted under Section 498A IPC and sentenced to three years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs.10,000/-. The Sessions Judge modified the sentence to six months imprisonment and a fine of Rs.2,000/-.

The Counsel appearing for the petitioner submitted that both the Trial Court and Appellate Court failed to consider that the accused-petitioner and the victim were never legally or socially married.

It was pointed out that one essential ingredient of Section 498A IPC is that the victim woman must be legally married to the accused. It was further highlighted that Section 5(iii) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 provides that the bride must have completed the age of 18 years and the bridegroom 21 years at the time of marriage. However, in the present case, it was admitted that the alleged victim was only 14 years old and the petitioner was 20 years old at the time of the alleged marriage.

Thus, it was argued that since the alleged marriage was neither valid nor proven, the petitioner cannot be considered her husband.

On the other hand, the Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) that there may not be a formal or socially solemnized marriage between the accused-petitioner and the victim but they were residing together as husband and wife.

The Court noted that the victim was only 14 years old at the time of the alleged marriage, and the accused-petitioner was 20 years old, both below the minimum legal age for marriage.

“….it is undisputed from the record and the submissions of both parties that there was no solemnization of marriage between them, nor was their relationship recognized as a marriage by society, despite their cohabitation,” the Court noted.

The Court highlighted that there was no valid marriage that could confer upon the victim the status of a 'wife' as required to invoke Section 498A IPC.

It was observed by the Court that the appellate Court did not arrive at a clear finding regarding the existence of a valid marriage or whether the essential ingredients of Section 498A were fulfilled.

“……the vital issue raised by the defence regarding the legal status of the relationship and the applicability of Section 498A IPC was not addressed or discussed in detail by the learned Appellate Court,” the Court said.

Thus, the Court set aside and quashed both the judgments and orders passed by the Trial Court and Appellate Court, respectively.

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Gau) 23

Case Title: Sri Subhash Hazarika @Dhan Hazarika v. The State of Assam

Case No.: Crl.Rev.P./89/2013

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