Anusha Singh
26 September 2021
As per your query it is understood that the second marriage is not valid as the man married the second woman while the first marriage was still subsisting. The child who was born out of this invalid marriage is known as the illegitimate child.
The child’s right should not be compromised just because he’s born out of an invalid marriage. It becomes the matter of equality before the law under Article 14 of the Indian constitution. There are many judgements of the Supreme Court and the High Court too relating to this matter.
In case of Union of India and anr. v. V.R. Tripathi, the respondent was denied the compassionate appointment on the grounds that he was born from the second marriage of the deceased person.
The Apex Court held in this case that compassionate job is offered by the government of India because of the hardship faced by the family of the deceased person who was the only earning member of the family. There are some rules according to which compassionate jobs can be appointed like the eligibility of the applicant for the job and the vacancy for the specific post.
While referring to this case the Apex Court stated the provision of Section 16 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 which talks about the legitimacy of the child born out of void or voidable marriages. The Apex Court stated “legitimacy of a child born from a marriage which is null and void, is a matter of public policy so as to protect a child born from such a marriage from suffering the consequences of illegitimacy. Hence, though the marriage may be null and void, a child who is born from the marriage is nonetheless treated as legitimate by sub-section (1) of Section 16”
Accordingly, there are many other judgements where the illegitimate children are also given rights of the legitimate children. So, the child born from the second marriage while the subsistence of the first marriage shall be treated equally in the eyes of law and shall be entitled for compassionate job appointment.
Hope it help!
Regards,
Anusha Singh
