The Kerala High Court has held that a Muslim man’s second marriage cannot be registered under the 2008 Kerala Registration of Marriages Common Rules, unless his first wife is first notified and given an opportunity to be heard, Bar and Bench reported on Wednesday.

Justice PV Kunhikrishnan observed that while Muslim personal law allows a man to have multiple wives, this right cannot override constitutional principles of equality and fair hearing.

The judge said that since marriage registration is a legal process, basic fairness under the 2008 Rules requires that the first wife, whose marriage is still valid, must be informed before her husband’s second marriage is registered.

Kunhikrishnan added that if the first wife objects to the registration on the grounds that the second marriage is invalid, the registrar must refrain from proceeding and refer the parties to a competent civil court to decide its validity under personal law.

“If the husband is neglecting the first wife or not maintaining the first wife, or inflicting cruelty on the first wife and thereafter contracting a second marriage, making use of his personal law, an opportunity of hearing to the first wife will be beneficial to her at least…,” Bar and Bench quoted the judge as saying.

The court further observed that it could not disregard the feelings of first wives when their husbands seek to register their second marriages, Live Law reported.

Observing that constitutional rights cannot be ignored in the name of religious freedom, Kunhikrishnan said: “Equality in gender is a constitutional right of every citizen. Men are not superior to women. Gender equality is not a women’s issue but a human issue.”

“The principles derived from the Holy Quran…enjoin principles of justice, fairness, and transparency in all marital dealings,” Bar and Bench quoted him as saying.

However, if the second marriage took place after pronouncing talaq (divorce) to the first wife, there is no question of giving notice to the first wife, the judge held.

The observations were made while hearing a petition filed by a Muslim man and his second wife, challenging the registrar’s refusal to register their marriage under the 2008 Rules, Live Law reported.

📰 Crime Today News is proudly sponsored by DRYFRUIT & CO – A Brand by eFabby Global LLC

Design & Developed by Yes Mom Hosting