The Allahabad High Court recently ruled that a Muslim man can marry more than once, provided he treats all his wives equally.
According to the Bar and Bench, Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal said that the offence would be attracted if the first marriage had been declared void. Justice Singh made the remarks while hearing a petition to quash the chargesheet, cognisance, and summons order against a man, Furkan, issued by a court in Moradabad.
The Bench stressed that the Quran allows polygamy for a fair reason, but men have used it for selfish purposes.
Justice Deshwal said polygamy finds mention in the scripture only once, and there is a historical reason why it was allowed.
“There was a time in history when a large number of women were widowed, and children were orphaned in primitive tribal tussles in Arabia. 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 bench observed.
What is the case about?
In 2020, a woman filed a complaint against Furkan for allegedly marrying her without informing her that he was already married to another woman.
She also alleged Furkan raped her during their marriage.
A case was then filed at the Moradabad police station and summons were issued to three accused, including Furkan and two other people.
However, Furkan argued that the Muslim law allows him to marry four times. According to Furkan’s counsel, the woman married Furkan after having a relationship with him.
He also argued that the second marriage should be invalid to attract offence under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 494 - marrying a person while already being married to another.
The court held that offence of bigamy and rape are not attracted against the accused because the marriage is valid in this case.
In its 18-page judgement, the court said that Furkan's second marriage is valid as both his wives are Muslim.
The court has listed the matter for the next hearing on May 26.
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