JUDGMENT

Dr Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, J.

1 Delay condoned.

2 Leave granted.

3 This appeal arises from a judgment of a Single Judge of the Gauhati High Court dated 4 April 2018 in Criminal Petition No 179 of 2016. The Single Judge has dismissed an application filed by the appellant under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 [“CrPC”] for quashing a complaint. The complaint, CR Case No 2512 of 2015, is pending in the Court of SDJM(S) II, Kamrup (M), Guwahati for offences under Sections 494 and 495 of the Indian Penal Code 1860 [“IPC”] .

4 The second respondent filed a complaint on 16 October 2015 before the Chief Judicial Magistrate stating that on 11 January 1996, he and the appellant were married in accordance with the tenets of Muslim law. According to the complaint, the second respondent came to know that the appellant was previously married to another person by the name of Shoukat Ali. The allegation is that during the subsistence of the previous marriage, she married the second respondent by suppressing the fact that she had a subsisting marriage. According to the complaint, the appellant has committed an offence punishable under Section 495 of the IPC since she conceal