Foreign Divorce on Irretrievable Breakdown Cannot Shield a Husband from Bigamy Prosecution, Rules Supreme Court in N. Sridhar Reddy v. State of Andhra Pradesh
Case: N. Sridhar Reddy v. The State of A.P. through Secretary and Others
Date of Judgment: 03 November 2026
Court: Supreme Court of India
Coram: Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Shree Chandrashekhar
Proceedings: Criminal Appeal No. 5187 of 2026 with Criminal Appeal Nos. 5188 and 5189 of 2026
Citation: 2026 INSC 1191
Court Observation
“if the foreign decree does not satisfy the requirements of Section 13 of the CPC, whether accused No.1/husband while relying on such a decree contend that his first marriage stood dissolved in the eyes of matrimonial laws of India and, thus, escape the rigours of Section 494 of the IPC, in our view, this cannot be permitted.”
Summary
The Supreme Court has upheld bigamy proceedings against a man who married a second time in the United Kingdom after obtaining a divorce decree from an English court on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage. The Court held that the foreign decree could not dissolve a marriage solemnised in India under Hindu rites, because irretrievable breakdown is not a ground of divorce recognised under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
The Court rejected the argument that the husband’s later acquisition of British citizenship, or the fact that the second marriage took place outside India, could dilute the charge under Section 494 of the Indian Penal Code. An enquiry into bigamy, it held, cannot be confined to the place of the second marriage but must take into account the subsisting first marriage.
Key Holdings
- A foreign divorce decree must satisfy Section 13 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, to be enforceable in India; a decree passed in contravention of Indian matrimonial law, on a ground not recognised statutorily, fails that test.
- A foreign decree cannot bind a wife who never submitted herself to the foreign court’s jurisdiction, where the marriage was performed in India.
- The sanctity of matrimonial status cannot be allowed to yield to forum shopping: a spouse who fails to end a marriage under Indian law cannot procure a foreign decree on an unrecognised ground and then claim the first marriage stands dissolved.
- A subsequent change of nationality does not defeat the legal consequences flowing from a subsisting marriage.
- Even if the second marriage took place outside India, the allegations under Section 494 of the Indian Penal Code are not diluted, because the bigamy enquiry must necessarily take into account the subsisting matrimonial relationship.
- The criminal proceedings against the husband’s parents and his second wife were quashed.
Background
The husband married his first wife on 18 April 2003 at Sattenapalli, Andhra Pradesh, according to Hindu rites and customs. Divorce and custody proceedings instituted by him before the competent court at Narasaraopet were dismissed, and his appeal to the High Court was subsequently withdrawn. He was granted citizenship of the United Kingdom on 01 February 2013 and obtained a divorce from the Cambridge County Court in England on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage. He then married a second time in the United Kingdom. On the complaint of his first wife, proceedings for bigamy and criminal conspiracy were initiated against him. The Andhra Pradesh High Court dismissed his plea to quash those proceedings, and the Supreme Court has now dismissed his appeal against that order.
Related Articles
- Divorce Cannot Be Granted On The Ground Of Irretrievable Breakdown Of Marriage Alone, Rules Supreme Court
- Calling a Wife ‘Stupid’ and ‘Useless’ Is Temperament, Not Cruelty, Rules Supreme Court
- Supreme Court Rules: Cruelty As Ground For Divorce Cannot Be Based On Single Incident Of Misbehaviour
Judgment Link: Read the full judgment (PDF)
Disclaimer: This is a summary prepared for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Readers should refer to the official judgment for the authoritative text.
