JAMMU, Aug. 8 -- In a significant ruling, the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh at Jammu has quashed a criminal complaint and the consequential cognizance order passed by a Judicial Magistrate in a case of alleged bigamy, declaring that the Magistrate acted without jurisdiction.
Justice Rajesh Sekhri, allowed the petition filed by Pawan Kumar and others, observing that the offence under Section 494 RPC (bigamy) is exclusively triable by a Sessions Court and thus, the trial Magistrate had no legal authority to take cognizance of the complaint.
The complaint, originally filed by Nisha Kumari, alleged that her husband had solemnized a second marriage with one Palvi Devi during the subsistence of their marital relationship. However, th...