{"id":81998,"date":"2026-08-20T19:02:42","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T13:32:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=81998"},"modified":"2026-08-20T19:03:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T13:33:00","slug":"legality-polygamy-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/20-08-2026\/legality-polygamy-india","title":{"rendered":"Legality of Polygamy in India"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/Governance&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>In News<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Supreme Court is hearing a plea challenging the constitutional legality of polygamy under the Muslim Personal Law.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Polygamy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It\u00a0 is the practice of having more than one married spouse \u2014 wife or husband.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Types:\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Polygyny: <\/strong>One man having multiple wives.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Polyandry: <\/strong>One woman having multiple husbands.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Bigamy:<\/strong> Marrying another person while the first valid marriage is still in force.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In India, monogamy is <strong>mandatory under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955<\/strong> and the <strong>Special Marriage Act, 1954<\/strong>. However, polygamy is not prohibited under Muslim personal law.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>According to<strong> NFHS-5 (2019\u201321)<\/strong>, polygamy was reported among different religious communities, with higher prevalence in some Northeastern and tribal-population areas.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The highest prevalence of polygamy was noticed in the Christian community.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The respective figures for the two communities were 2.1% for Christians and 1.9% for Muslims.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Only 1.3% of Hindu men have more than one wife.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Historical and Cultural Reasons of Polygamy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Economic reasons<\/strong>: In rural or agricultural societies, more wives could mean more labour for household and agricultural chores.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Patriarchal traditions<\/strong>: The importance placed on male heirs and lineage sometimes encouraged men to marry again if their first wife had no children or no sons.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Religious and customary traditions <\/strong>: Personal laws of some religions and the customs of some tribes in some cases permitted polygynous marriages.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Social protection<\/strong>: In some pre-industrial and conflict-affected countries, subsequent marriages may provide economic security and social protection for widows or vulnerable women.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Arguments Against Polygamy&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Gender Inequality &amp; Exploitation : <\/strong>Polygamy continues patriarchal dominance by creating an uneven dynamic in marriage, where males are allowed to have multiple wives, but women are not.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mental Health<\/strong>: Co-wives usually suffer emotional agony, economic insecurity, marginalisation and marital discord in the family.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Economic Strain<\/strong>:Maintaining multiple households often leads to diluted financial resources, impacting the care, nutrition, and education of children born into such unions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Breach of Constitutional Principles<\/strong> : Critics have argued that legalisation of polygamy would be against Article 14 (Right to Equality) and Article 21 (Right to Life and Personal Dignity) of the Indian Constitution.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Rules and Regulations&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Matters of marriage, divorce and succession are governed by personal laws based on religious identity because India does not have a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) applicable to the entire nation.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>For the majority of the population, monogamy is the only legal form of marriage.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955<\/strong> \u2013 which governs Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs \u2013 prohibits bigamy.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If a person governed by the Hindu Marriage Act marries again while a spouse is living, the second marriage is considered invalid.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936<\/strong> expressly prohibits bigamy for Parsis.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872<\/strong> prohibits the certification of marriages involving Christians if either of them is already married to someone else.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Section 82 of the BNS criminalises bigamy <\/strong>and Bigamy can attract up to seven years\u2019 imprisonment and a fine when the second marriage is legally void because the first spouse is still living.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The exception<\/strong> to the rule lies in Muslim personal law. Governed by the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, Muslim men are legally permitted to have up to four wives.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Consequently, the penal provisions of the BNS regarding bigamy do not apply to Muslim men as their personal law sanctions the practice.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>State wise Regulations&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Uttarakhand<\/strong>: Its Uniform Civil Code (2024) prohibits bigamy for all residents.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Assam <\/strong>: The Assam Prohibition of Polygamy Bill, 2025 allows for strong punishment including upto 7 years of imprisonment and 10 years imprisonment in case a previous marriage is disguised.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Tribal exemptions<\/strong>: Both Assam and Uttarakhand give exemptions to the Scheduled Tribes and some protected tribal areas in the acknowledgement of their customary rules that are protected by the Constitution.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Goa<\/strong>: Goa has been following a uniform civil code based on Portuguese civil code for over a century.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>But Goa Civil Code allows a Hindu man to marry again in some limited situations like the woman being infertile or not being able to have a male child.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>But the clause is considered to be virtually obsolete and is not said to have been used since 1910.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Supreme Court on Polygamy&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In<strong> Sarla Mudgal v. Union of India (1995)<\/strong> the Court held that a Hindu man cannot convert to Islam to marry again, while his first marriage is still valid. Such a second marriage is void.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>In Lily Thomas v. Union of India (2000)<\/strong> the Court reiterated its stand that a second marriage after fraudulent or sham conversion is illegal and punishable.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Both judgements stressed that conversion could not be used to get around existing marriage laws.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that polygamy was not an essential practice of Islam and hence not protected under <strong>Article 25 of the Constitution.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Court said, religious freedom protects faith but not behaviours that are against public order, health or morals<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Source :<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/why-is-the-supreme-court-examining-polygamy-again-explained\/article71364788.ece\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">TH<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong><br \/>\nIn News<\/p>\n<p><\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">\n<p>The Supreme Court is hearing a plea challenging the constitutional legality of polygamy under the Muslim Personal Law.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong><br \/>\nPolygamy<\/p>\n<p><\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"\t>\n<p>It\u00a0 is the practice of having more than one married spouse \u2014 wife or husband.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">\n<p>Types:\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<p><a href=\" https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/20-08-2026\/legality-polygamy-india \" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81998"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81998\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82000,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81998\/revisions\/82000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}