Chhattisgarh High Court: Second Marriage by 'Chudi Pratha' Invalid if First Wife Alive

• The Chhattisgarh High Court ruled that a second marriage performed via 'chudi pratha' (bangle ceremony) is invalid if the first marriage is still subsisting.
• Justice Bibhu Datta Guru's single bench cited the Hindu Marriage Act 1955, stating that a second marriage with a living spouse is void.
• The ruling clarifies that merely living together or a bangle ceremony does not validate a second marriage without legal dissolution of the first.
• The case involved a property dispute in Durg, where the court denied property rights to the alleged second wife's children.
• The High Court affirmed that only the child of the first wife has legal rights to the property, upholding a 2002 lower court decision.

Why It Matters: Second marriages by 'chudi pratha' are legally void if the first spouse is alive and not divorced.