Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC-LKO:5419-DB Court No. - 1 Case :- WRIT - C No. - 454 of 2025 Petitioner :- Arti Singh Respondent :- Union Of India Thru. Secy. Ministry Of Defence New Delhi And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Mohd. Zafar Khan Counsel for Respondent :- A.S.G.I. Hon'ble Attau Rahman Masoodi,J. Hon'ble Subhash Vidyarthi,J. 1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and Sri S.B. Pandey learned Deputy Solicitor General of India assisted by Sri Varun Pandey learned counsel for the Union of India. 2. Criminal proceedings through an F.I.R. have already come to be lodged against opposite party no. 4 and in furtherance thereof, the charge-sheet/police report has been filed before the competent court. 3. The present writ petition for a writ of mandamus directing the competent authority for initiating the disciplinary action against the opposite party no. 4 does not seem to be permissible as per regulations applicable in this behalf. 4. For ready reference Regulation 333(C) of the Regulations(Revised Edition) 1987 is extracted here-under :- 333. PLURAL Marriage- (A)............................ (B)............................ (C) Plural Marriage by persons in whose case it is not permissible — (a) An individual whose marriage is alleged to have been dissolved according to any recognized custom or special enactment under the provisions of Sec 20(2), read with Sec 3 (a) of the Hindu Marriage Act, but not by a judicial decree will report immediately after the divorce, the full circumstances leading to and culminating in dissolution of marriage together with a valid proof of the existence of the alleged recognised custom or special enactment. The existence and validity of the alleged custom or special enactment will be got verified from civil authorities and if it is confirmed by the civil authorities that the divorce is valid, action will be taken to publish the casualty for the dissolution of the marriage. The individual thereafter will not be required to obtain sanction for contracting the second marriage. (b) A plural marriage solemnised, contracted or performed by any such person is null and void and may, on a petition presented to a court of law by either party thereto, be so declared by a decree of nullity. Not only is the plural marriage void but the offence of bigamy is also committed. This offence is, however, triable only on a complaint made to the civil authority by an aggrieved party. The punishment for the offence of a bigamy is prescribed in Sections 494 and 495 of the Indian Penal Code, (c) When it is found, on receipt of a complaint from any source whatsoever, that any such person has gone through a ceremony of plural marriage, no disciplinary action by way of trial by Court Martial or Summary disposal will be taken against him, but administrative action to terminate his service will be initiated and the case reported to higher authorities in the manner laid down in sub-para (B) (g) above. In cases where cognizance has been taken by civil court of competent jurisdiction the matter should be treated as sub judice and the decision of the court awaited before taking any action. When a person has been convicted of the offence of bigamy or where his marriage has been declared void by a decree of court on grounds of plural marriage, action will be taken to terminate his service under AA Section 19 read with Army Rule 14 or AA Section 20 read with Army Rule 17 as the case may be. No ex-post-facto sanction can be accorded as such marriages are contrary to the law of the land. 5. A plain reading of the aforesaid regulation indicates that the petitioner is bound to wait for the outcome of the pending proceeding and any disciplinary action being dependent upon the outcome of such a proceeding is to follow on the conclusion of the proceeding. 6. The writ petition with the clarification as above is disposed of. [Subhash Vidyarthi,J.] [Attau Rahman Masoodi, J.] Order Date :- 28.1.2025 kanhaiya Digitally signed by :- KANHAIYA KUMAR High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench