15-05-2025
Men misusing polygamy under Muslim law for selfish purposes: Allahabad High Court
The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday expressed concern over the misuse of polygamy under the guise of Muslim personal law, stating that the Quran's conditional allowance for multiple marriages is now being used by men for 'selfish purposes', contrary to its original to a report in Live Law, while addressing a matter involving multiple marriages, Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal pointed out that polygamy was historically allowed in early Islamic times to support widows and orphans in the aftermath of wars, however, the modern-day interpretations often ignore the conditional and humanitarian nature of the is a historical reason why the Quran allows polygamy. There was a time in history when a large number of women were widowed, and children were orphaned in primitive tribal tussles in Arabs. The Muslims suffered heavy casualties in defending the nascent Islamic community in Medina. It was under such circumstances that the Quran allowed conditional polygamy to protect orphans and their mothers from exploitation,' the court said.
The Court further aligned its view with the Supreme Court's recommendations in the Sarla Mudgal and Lily Thomas cases, reiterating the need for a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) as envisaged under Article 44 of the per the report, the court defined the legal position over multiple marriages by a Muslim male and their implications under Section 494 of the IPC. The court also laid down situations under which such marriages may or may not attract the offence of bigamy. The court stated that –advertisement1. If a Muslim male contracts his first marriage under Mohammedan law, his second, third, or fourth marriages will not be void, and thus Section 494 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) (which deals with bigamy) will not apply. However, if the second marriage is declared void (Batil) by a Family Court under Section 7 of the Family Courts Act, or by any competent court, then Section 494 IPC can be invoked.2. Conversely, if a man marries under the Special Marriage Act, Hindu Marriage Act, Christian, Parsi, or Foreign Marriage Acts, and then converts to Islam to marry again, such a second marriage would be void, and Section 494 IPC would apply.3. The court reaffirmed that Family Courts have the jurisdiction to determine the validity of a Muslim marriage performed in accordance with the Muslim Personal High Court also emphasised that a Muslim man does not have an absolute right to enter into a second marriage unless he is capable of treating all his wives equally, as mandated by the Watch
