Section 82 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) punishes bigamy - marrying again during the lifetime of one's husband or wife. Its first sub-section, Section 82(1), is the direct successor of the well known Section 494 IPC: the official comparison table records that the IPC section was included as a sub-section of the BNS provision when the new code came into force on 1 July 2024.
What Section 82(1) BNS provides
Whoever, having a husband or wife living, marries again in a case where the second marriage is void because it takes place during the life of the existing spouse, is punished with imprisonment which may extend to seven years, and is also liable to fine.
The sub-section carries an important exception: it does not apply where the former marriage has been declared void by a competent court, or where the former spouse has been continually absent and unheard of for seven years - provided the person remarrying discloses these facts to the person they are marrying. Sub-section (2) of the section deals with the aggravated form of the same offence - remarrying while concealing the former marriage from the person married - and carries a higher punishment of up to ten years and fine.
The essentials in plain language
Three things must come together: a valid and subsisting first marriage; the spouse being alive at the time of the second marriage; and a second marriage that is itself properly solemnised under the law that governs it - a mere living arrangement or an incomplete ceremony is not "marrying" for this offence. The section applies where the personal law governing the parties makes the second marriage void; and after Sarla Mudgal v. Union of India (1995), converting to another religion does not dissolve a subsisting marriage - a second marriage contracted after such a conversion is still bigamous, a position reaffirmed in Lily Thomas v. Union of India (2000).
Procedure, bail and trial
Bigamy under Section 82(1) is a non-cognizable and bailable offence, triable by a Magistrate of the first class. The police do not register an ordinary FIR of their own motion: as a matrimonial offence, the courts generally take cognizance only on a complaint by the person aggrieved - typically the wronged spouse. This makes the choice of forum and the drafting of the complaint the first strategic decisions in a bigamy case.
What changed from Section 494 IPC
Nothing of substance. Section 494 IPC became sub-section (1) of Section 82 BNS, with the definition, the exception and the seven-year punishment intact. The case law developed under Section 494 - on proof of the second marriage's ceremonies, on conversion, and on who may complain - continues to apply.
Leading Supreme Court judgments
- Sarla Mudgal v. Union of India (1995) - conversion to another religion does not by itself dissolve a subsisting marriage; a second marriage after conversion is bigamous.
- Lily Thomas v. Union of India (2000) - reaffirmed Sarla Mudgal and the prosecution of such second marriages.
Discovered a spouse's second marriage, or accused of one? Bigamy cases stand or fall on proof of the marriages themselves, so early advice on evidence matters. Talk to a family lawyer in your city or browse advocates in the Free Law directory.