Supreme Court: Foreign divorce decree not recognized, bigamy charge upheld, parents and second wife discharged

The Supreme Court, comprising Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Shree Chandrashekhar, dismissed the appeal of Dr N Sridhar Reddy and upheld the criminal prosecution against him for bigamy under Section 494 of the Indian Penal Code, while simultaneously allowing the appeals of his parents and his second wife and ordering the quashing of the proceedings against them.

Dr Reddy married his first wife in India in 2003 and obtained a divorce decree from a UK court in 2014 on the ground of irretrievable breakdown. He subsequently married a second wife in the United Kingdom. The first wife filed a complaint in 2016, leading to charges of bigamy against Dr Reddy, his parents and the second wife. The Court examined whether the foreign decree could be recognized under Sections 13 and 14 of the Code of Civil Procedure and whether the inherent power under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code could be invoked to dismiss the case.

The Court held that the UK decree was not conclusive under Section 13 CPC because it was based on a ground not recognised by the Hindu Marriage Act and the foreign court lacked jurisdiction over a marriage solemnised in India. Consequently, the bigamy charge against Dr Reddy remained viable, while the parents and the second wife were found to have no overt act or common intention, leading to the quashing of the proceedings against them.

Read the judgment and its head note on DLJ: N. Sridhar Reddy vs The State Of A.P. Through Secretary (2026 INSC 1191).