A view of Supreme Court in New Delhi. File.
| Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR
The Supreme Court on Friday (July 31, 2026) sought the Centre’s response on a petition to declare polygamy among Muslims as unconstitutional, for a direction to take legislative steps to abolish the practice for all citizens regardless of religion.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant issued notice to the Union government on a petition filed by activist Zakia Soman and others, represented by advocates Shriya Maini and Rajive Maini, for an order to apply Section 82 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which punishes bigamy, uniformly and by removing any exemptions under Muslim Personal Law.
The petition sought the compulsory registration of Muslim marriages and divorces with State authorities to prevent the secret subsequent marriages. In cases of polygamous attempts, the petition said the first wife and children should have an absolute and immediate right to the matrimonial home and a fast-tracked mechanism for financial maintenance.
The petitioners also sought the court to direct the Law Commission of India or the Union government to prepare a draft for the codification of Muslim Personal Law that aligns marriage, divorce, and succession with constitutional principles of gender equality.
The petition said that the Quran’s intent was the eventual elimination of the practice of polygamy over time.
“Many Muslim-majority countries have moved away from unrestricted polygamy, using Quranic interpretation or state necessity to prioritise monogamy as the ideal social state. Several Muslim-maiority jurisdictions have demonstrated that polygamy is neither essential to the practice of Islam nor immune from legislative reforms,” the plea said.
The petitioners said a survey submitted last year across seven States, including Maharashtra, Gujarat, West Bengal, Kamataka, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, and Rajasthan had found that 88% of husbands did not seek consent for a second maniage, and 79% did not even inform their first wives, proving that the practice was now “characterised by fraud rather than ‘justice’.
The petitioners contended in court that poIygamy was a “primary driver of female destitution”.
It said that while bigamy was a criminal offence for Hindus, Cliristians, and Parsis under their respective personal laws and the penal law, Muslim men were permitted to take up to four wives under the Muslim Personal Law (Shai’iat) Application Act. 1937.
“Indian Constitution neither grants any absolute protection to personal law of any community that is arbitrary or unjust, nor exempts personal laws from jurisdiction of the legislature or the judiciary,” the petition said.
The plea said the Uniform Civil Code remains an elusive Constitutional goal despite repeated apex court orders.
“However, Uttarakhand’s UCC implementation and Gujarat’s impending adoption demonstrate feasibility, followed by Assam’s distinct stand on polygamy,” the petition noted.
Published – July 31, 2026 01:06 pm IST
