Section 83

This provision (earlier Section 496 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860) targets deliberate deception through fake or sham marriage ceremonies — for example, someone who is already married, or who lacks legal capacity to marry, going through wedding rituals with another person while knowing no valid marriage results. It protects people from being tricked into believing they are married when they are not, which can affect their dignity, property rights, inheritance, and social standing. The law recognizes that going through the outward form of marriage without legal validity can cause serious harm even if no formal 'marriage' is technically broken.

Courts under the earlier IPC provision held that the offence requires proof of two things together: (1) actual performance of a recognized marriage ceremony, and (2) knowledge by the accused that the ceremony does not create a lawful marriage, combined with dishonest or fraudulent intent. Mere failure of a marriage to be legally valid due to a technical defect, without dishonest intent, was not enough. Courts also examined whether the essential rites of a valid marriage ceremony (as per the applicable personal law or custom) were actually performed, since going through no ceremony at all, or an incomplete one, could take the case outside this provision.

• Myth: This section punishes every marriage that later turns out to be legally invalid.
  Fact: Courts require proof that the person knew the marriage wouldn't be valid and acted dishonestly or to defraud — an honest mistake about legal validity isn't covered.
• Myth: This provision applies only to men, since the text uses 'he'.
  Fact: Under general principles of statutory interpretation, such gendered language is usually read to include all persons unless the law states otherwise; courts interpret criminal provisions in light of this general rule (simplified).