Muslim Man May Marry Twice Without Divorce but a Muslim Lady Cannot: Punjab & Haryana HC

NEW DELHI: Hearing a petition filed by a Muslim couple, the Punjab and Haryana High Court said that a Muslim man can marry twice without divorce but a Muslim lady cannot.

According to reports, a bench of Justice Alka Sarin, was hearing the plea of a Muslim couple, who had approached the high court seeking protection to their life and liberty said, "A Muslim man may get married more than once without divorcing his earlier wife, but the same does not apply to a Muslim lady."

"A Muslim man may get married more than once without divorcing his earlier wife, but the same does not apply to a Muslim lady. A Muslim lady has to divorce her first husband, either under the Muslim Personal Law or under the provisions of the Muslim Marriages Act, 1939, before contracting a second marriage. In fact, the alleged marriage itself between petitioner no.1 and petitioner no.2 would be illegal in as much as this marriage has been contracted without the petitioner no.1 being legally divorced," said Justice Sarin.

The judgment comes after the plea submitted by both the petitioners stated- that the couple has been in Jammu and Kashmir. love with each other since many years and have performed nikah on January 19, 2021, as per nikahnama.

However, the woman's relatives are against the relationship. It was also submitted that this is the second marriage for both petitioners, who were earlier "forcefully married" (to different people), and the woman had filed a case against her earlier in-laws.

Earlier on 30-July-2019, the Parliament passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2019.

Key Provisions

Declaration of Talaq: The Act makes all declaration of talaq, including in written or electronic form, to be void (i.e. not enforceable in law) and illegal.

The Act defines talaq as talaq-e-biddat or any other similar form of talaq pronounced by a Muslim man resulting in instant and irrevocable divorce.

Offence and Penalty: The Act makes a declaration of talaq a cognizable offence, attracting up to three years imprisonment with a fine.

A cognizable offence is one for which a police officer may arrest an accused person without warrant.

Cognizable Offence: The offence will be cognizable only if information relating to the offence is given by married woman (against whom talaq has been declared), or any person related to her by blood or marriage.

Bail: The Act provides that the Magistrate may grant bail to a talaq has been pronounced, and if the Magistrate is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for granting bail.

Compounding Offence: The offence may be compounded (i.e. the parties may arrive at a compromise) by the Magistrate upon the request of the woman(against whom talaq has been declared).

The terms and conditions of the compounding of the offence will be determined by the Magistrate.

Allowance: A Muslim woman against whom talaq has been declared, is entitled to seek subsistence allowance from her husband for herself and for her dependent children.

The amount of the allowance will be determined by the Magistrate.

Custody: A Muslim woman against whom such talaq has been declared, is entitled to seek custody of her minor children.

The manner of custody will be determined by the Magistrate.

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