Politics
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Supreme Court seeks Centre reply on polygamy plea
Siasat··31 Jul
Supreme Court on July 31 issued notice to the Centre on activist Zakia Soman's plea to declare polygamy among Muslims unconstitutional and apply BNS Section 82 bigamy law uniformly. Petitioners sought compulsory registration of Muslim marriages and divorces and fast tracked maintenance for first wives. A cited survey said 88 percent of husbands did not seek first wives' consent.
Prism
What It Means For You
- Muslim women in polygamous marriages may follow whether courts require consent, registration and maintenance protections if the petition succeeds.
- Anyone tracking uniform civil code debates should note the plea cites Uttarakhand's UCC and Gujarat's planned adoption alongside Assam's polygamy stance.
- Legal observers can watch whether Section 82 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita on bigamy could apply uniformly across religions after the Centre responds.
What's Happening
- Supreme Court on July 31 issued notice to the Centre on a plea by activist Zakia Soman seeking to declare polygamy among Muslims unconstitutional.
- Chief Justice Surya Kant's bench sought response on applying BNS Section 82 bigamy provisions uniformly by ending Muslim personal law exemptions.
- Petitioners also sought compulsory registration of Muslim marriages and divorces and fast tracked maintenance for first wives in polygamous unions.
Bigamy Law Versus Personal Law Exemption
- The plea argued bigamy is criminal for Hindus, Christians and Parsis while Muslim men may have up to four wives under the 1937 Shariat Act.
- A survey cited in the petition said 88 percent of husbands did not seek first wives' consent before second marriages across seven states.
- Petitioners asked the Law Commission or Union government to draft codified Muslim personal law aligned with constitutional gender equality principles.
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