Published on: October 19, 2023 at 12:18 IST
Court: Supreme Court of India
Citation: Vijayalakshmi V. Vasudevan (1994)
Honourable Supreme Court of India has held that Section 300 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 is based on the maxim Nemo Deber Bis Vexari, Si Costest Curiae Quod Sit Pro Una Et Eadem Causa which means that a person cannot be tried a second time for an offence which is involved in an offence with which he was previously charged. In order to bar the trial of any person already tried, it must be shown that:
(i) he has been tried by a competent court for the same offence or one for which he might have been charged or convicted at a trial, on the same facts,
(ii) he has been convicted or acquitted at the trial, and
(iii) such conviction or acquittal is in force.
3. Sub-section (1) of Section 300 CrPC bars a second trial for the same offence. The High Court itself found that the offence was the same yet it dismissed the application of the appellants for discharging them as facts were not same. Sub-section (1) of Section 300 CrPC reads as under: It shall be seen that it bars a fresh trial if a person had been tried and convicted or acquitted by a court of competent jurisdiction for the same offence. Offence is defined by clause (n) of Section 2 of the CrPC to mean ‘an act or omission made punishable by the Act’.
The offence for which the appellants were tried earlier was the offence of bigamy under Section 494 IPC. The second trial, therefore, may be at the instance of the husband of appellant 1 is clearly barred by Section 300 CrPC, as it is for the same offence. The High Court, in our opinion, misdirected itself in recording the finding that facts being different, except the alleged marriage the second complaint was liable to be proceeded with. We do not find any distinction on facts except that the first complaint was filed by the first wife of the husband and second complaint has been filed by the husband of the wife, appellant 1 who is said to have remarried appellant 2.
The offence of bigamy is committed when a husband or wife in the lifetime of his spouse marries. When a person is tried and convicted for such an offence on the complaint of a person, authorised by law to do so, he or she cannot be prosecuted and tried a second time for the same offence on another complaint filed by another person. The bar under Section 300 is for trial and conviction of the same offence. Since offence remains the same the appellants cannot be tried and convicted for it once again.
Drafted By Abhijit Mishra