Ban on polygamy in Assam has strong public support, says CM
Guwahati (IANS). Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said that there is strong public support for banning polygamy in the state.
The state government had earlier constituted a committee to study the feasibility of bringing a law to ban polygamy in Assam. Public opinion was sought by the government before the bill was introduced in the state assembly after the submission of the report by the concerned committee.
Sarma said on X, “We have received a total of 149 suggestions in response to our public notice. Of these, 146 suggestions are in favor of the Bill, indicating strong public support. However, three organizations have expressed their opposition to the bill.
“We will now move to the next stage of the process wherein the final draft of the Bill will be prepared in the next 45 days,” he said.
The expert committee said in its report that the Indian Constitution gives the Union and the states the power to make laws on specific issues.
Marriage is on the concurrent list, so both the federal government and states can establish laws governing it. According to the committee’s findings, the principle of antitrust (Article 254) states that if a State law conflicts with a Central law, the Central law shall take precedence, unless the State law is preceded by the prior assent of the President of India. Don’t get approval.
The report also said that Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution guarantee religious freedom and freedom of conscience. These rights are not inalienable; Rather, they are constrained by laws governing social welfare and improvement as well as public morality, health, and order.
“With regard to Islam, the courts have held that having more than one wife is not an essential part of the religion,” the committee said in the report. The law limiting the number of wives does not interfere with the right to practice religion and is within the scope of “social welfare and reform”. Therefore, laws supporting monogamy do not violate Article 25.”
The committee recommended that the Government of Assam should be given the legal power to pass legislation outlawing polygamy in the State Legislature.
