This is a petition for setting aside the discharge of the three accused in C.C.No. 3917 of 1949 on the file of the Fifth Presidency Magistrate, Madras. They had all been complained against under sections 494, 495 and 496 read with section 109, Indian Penal Code, by the petitioner, Mrs. Marthammal, and were discharged by the learned Presidency Magistrate under section 253 (1), Criminal Procedure Code.

The facts were briefly these. The petitioner Mrs. Marthammal was a Christian School mistress, aged 29, in September, 1943, when she met the first accused, Munuswami, a Hindu student, just past 18. She fell madly in love with him and began to have sexual intercourse with him. Her father and brother chided her for thus misconducting herself. Later on, she and her father and brother arranged with the first accused that he should become a Christian and marry the petitioner and thus regularise the illicit relationship between him and the petitioner. On 9th April, 1944, the first accused, Munuswami, was baptised and converted to Christianity by Rev. Moses, P.W.4, in the Perambur Telugu Baptist Church. P.W.3, the Deacon of the Church, was also present at the conversion. No intimation was sent to the boy’s parents or relatives, who apparently did not know anything at all about his illicit intercourse with the petitioner or his intention to marry her after becoming a Christian, or even the fact of his knowing the petitioner. On 17th April, 1944, eight days after the conversion, the first accused was married to the petitioner in the same church in the presence of P.Ws. 2, 3, 4 and 6, all Christians. Again, no information about the marriage was sent to the relatives of the first accused and not one of them was present. The evidence showed that none of the relatives of the first accused ever knew that the first accused had become a Christian or had been baptised or had married the petitioner. After living together for some time, the first accused and the petitioner got estranged, in 1946, and the first accused was living away from the petitioner for some time. The petitioner then wrote to him several pathetic letters telling him that she loved him and wanted him alone, and not his money or belongings and that he was her life and joy and comfort and that she would get her sister or any other girl married to him as second wife in addition to herself and that he might live happily enjoying jollily with both his wives and that she would give him whatever money is wanted but that he should not marry a Hindu girl as he was intending to do. She wanted him to see the fair girl she was choosing for him as second wife and also to be with her for 24 hours in a hotel room. She added that she did not know before marrying him what love was or what sin and the world were and that she began realising them all only after marrying him. In spite of all these letters in 1946 and after a temporary reconciliation for some months and getting a son by her on 27th July, 1948, the first accused again went away from her in the latter half of 1948 and married P.W.11, Sarojini, me daughter of A-3 and a Hindu, on 3rd February, 1949, according to Hindu rites. A-2 the father of A-1 was also present at that marriage. According to P.W.11 and the other evidence in the case A-2 and A-3 had never heard of the marriage of the first accused with the petitioner or of his having had sexual intercourse with the petitioner or even of his acquaintance with her or of his having been baptised and converted to Christianity. The evidence of P.Ws. 1 and 2 to the contrary was held rightly to be false by the lower Court. The lower Court discharged A-2 and A-3 on the facts as it was satisfied that they knew nothing about his first marriage and had not been present at the second marriage of the first accused with knowledge of such first marriage and with intent to abet an offence of bigamy. Regarding the first accused the lower Court held that he too should be discharged as the evidence o