Muslim man must notify 1st wife to register 2nd marriage: Kerala HC

KOCHI: A Muslim man cannot register his second marriage under Kerala Registration of Marriages (Common) Rules, 2008, without notifying his first wife as long as his marital relationship with her is valid, Kerala HC has held.

Justice P V Kunhikrishnan passed this order on Oct 30 on a petition filed by a Kannur man (44) and his second wife (38) from Kasaragod, challenging the decision of the registrar of a local self-govt institution to decline to register their marriage. The petitioners argued that under Muslim personal law, a man is entitled to have up to four wives at a time.

HC held that the registrar shall not register a second marriage if the first wife objected on the grounds that it was invalid. Instead, the parties must be referred to the competent civil court to establish the validity of the marriage.

Even under Muslim personal law, a man may marry a second time only under specific conditions, HC observed. It noted that neither the Holy Quran nor Muslim law permitted a man to have an extramarital relationship or to contract another marriage without the knowledge of his first wife. HC noted that a Muslim wife could not remain a silent spectator. "In such matters, religion is secondary and constitutional rights are supreme," HC said, adding that "99.99% of Muslim women will be against their husband's second marriage when their marital relationship is still in existence."

HC also held that under Muslim personal law, a man may marry more than one wife only if he has the means to maintain them. The bench subsequently dismissed the petition, noting that the first wife had not been made a party to the case.


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