Muslim man can't be charged for bigamy under Mohammedan law: Allahabad HC

The Allahabad High Court ruled a Muslim man cannot be charged with bigamy under Mohammedan law unless the first marriage was under other personal or special marriage laws

The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday ruled that a Muslim man cannot be charged with the offence of bigamy (marrying one person while being legally married to another) if his marriage was conducted under Mohammedan law.

 

A single bench of Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal ruled that a Muslim man can be charged with the offence of bigamy if the first marriage was conducted under the Special Marriage Act, Foreign Marriage Act, Christian Marriage Act, Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, or the Hindu Marriage Act, and the second marriage is performed under Mohammedan law after converting to Islam, according to Bar and Bench.

 

He made these remarks while hearing a plea to quash the chargesheet, cognisance and summons ordered against a man, Furkan, issued by a court in Moradabad. The case pertains to when a woman filed a complaint against Furkan, alleging that when she married him, he was already married, and it was not disclosed to her. However, the petitioner argued that the law allows him to marry up to four times.

 

According to an NDTV report, the woman also alleged that she was raped by Furkan. However, his counsel in the Moradabad court argued that the woman admitted to marrying Furkan after having a relationship with him.

 

The court also shed light on polygamy and stressed that the Quran allows it for a fair reason; however, men have used it for selfish reasons. Justice Deshwal further added, "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 further clarified that polygamy mentioned in the Quran is conditional. It said, "It is clear that the Quran asks men first to consider taking care of the orphans and only when they think they may not be able to do justice to the orphans’ interests while staying in isolation, should they consider marrying their widowed mothers, on the condition that the new family would be dealt with justly on par with the existing one."

 

The bench also advocated for the enactment of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), after noting the misuse of liberty. The matter will now be heard on 26 May.