Karnataka HC dismisses bigamy petition against Kumaraswamy

Bangalore: The Karnataka High Court today dismissed a writ petition seeking a direction to the Lok Sabha Speaker to disqualify JDS state President HD Kumaraswamy from membership of Parliament for allegedly committing bigamy. The division bench headed by Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen dismissed the petition filed by city-based advocate Sashidhar Belagumba on the grounds of lack of proof. [caption id=“attachment_270266” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The petition had contended that Kumaraswamy is prohibited from bigamy as he is a Hindu. AFP Photo”]  [/caption] Belagumba had filed the petition in the High Court in 2011, charging Kumaraswamy with going in for a second marriage to Kannada actress Radhika. He contended that the JD(S) leader, a Lok Sabha member, ought to be disqualified from Parliament membership as he has committed a ‘crime’ by marrying again while his first wife Anitha is alive. The petitioner referred to Section 494 of IPC (marrying again during lifetime of husband or wife) and to Radhika’s admission in the press and its confirmation by Kumaraswamy. The JD(S) leader had also confirmed fathering a child with Radhika, according to the petition, which said Kumaraswamy is prohibited from bigamy as he is a Hindu. The petitioner, however, had stated that he was not seeking any prosecution of the JD (S) leader. “Every Indian citizen should be treated equally and the law of the land uniformly applied to everyone as enunciated in Article 14 of the Constitution,” the petitioner had said. PTI