The bench also ordered that no coercive actions be taken against the Algerian woman, whose passport expired in May of this year, until the matter is resolved.
Team Clarion
MUMBAI — The Bombay High Court has ruled that a Muslim man is permitted to register more than one marriage in accordance with Muslim personal laws that allow more than one marriage.
The court’s decision arose from a case involving a Muslim man seeking to register his third marriage.
A division bench of Justices BP Colabawalla and Somasekhar Sundaresan on October 15 directed the deputy marriage registration office of the Thane Municipal Corporation to decide the application filed by a Muslim man in February last year seeking to register his third marriage with a woman from Algeria, according to a PTI report.
The couple filed a petition requesting the authorities to issue them a marriage certificate, which had been denied on the grounds that this was the man’s third marriage. Officials cited the Maharashtra Regulation of Marriage Bureaus and Registration of Marriages Act, arguing that it only allows for the registration of a single marriage.
However, the bench characterised the authorities’ refusal as “wholly misconceived.” The justices noted that the Act does not contain any provisions preventing a Muslim man from registering a third marriage.
The court asserted that under Muslim personal law, a Muslim man is allowed to have up to four wives simultaneously.
“Under the personal laws for Muslims, they are entitled to have four wives at a time. Once this is the case, we are unable to accept the submission of the authorities that under the provisions of the Maharashtra Regulation of Marriage Bureaus and Registration of Marriages Act, only one marriage can be registered, even in the case of a Muslim male,” the court said.
The bench said if it were to accept the authorities’ contention, then it would effectively mean that the Maharashtra Regulation of Marriage Bureaus and Registration of Marriages Act overrides and/or has displaced the personal laws of Muslims.
“There is absolutely nothing in this Act to indicate that the personal laws of Muslims have been excluded,” the court said.
It further noted that the same authorities had ironically registered the petitioner’s marriage with his second wife.
The authorities also contended that the couple had not provided certain required documents. In response, the court instructed the petitioners to submit all necessary documents within two weeks.
