JOIN USThe provisions under Section 494 of the IPC (remarrying again during lifetime of husband or wife) cannot be enforced on Muslim men marrying under the Sharia law. A ruling to this effect was given by Gujarat High Court on Thursday.
It may be recalled that a division bench of Kerala High Court had on February 25 this year held that enforcement of Section 494 of the IPC is applicable to all offenders, irrespective of their religion but subject to personal laws.
The division bench had said the offence does not discriminate between an offender belonging to Hindu, Muslim, Christian male or female in registering a case for offence of bigamy, if the marriage is valid and legal.
The Gujarat High Court, meanwhile, gave its ruling in a case filed by Sajida Banu, who had claimed filing of case against her husband Zafar Abbas under Section 494. Sajida, who hails from Bhavnagar in Gujarat, had married Zafar Abbas from Chhattisgarh. However, in 1997, Zafar apparently remarried without divorcing Sajida.
The Bhavnagar court ruled in favour of Sajida, stating that a man cannot remarry without the permission of his first wife. Zafar went to high court against the ruling of the Bhavnagar court.
As the case involved the sensitive subject of Islamic law, Quran and the tradition of polygamy allowed under Islam, the court appointed an amicus curiae to help it reach a verdict.
Judgments
The amicus curiae consulted various Islamic religious experts, legal experts, interpretation of various judgments on the issue by various high courts and the Supreme Court before giving suggestions to the Gujarat High Court.