Bombay High Court Rules Muslim Men Can Register Multiple Marriages Under Personal Laws

Highlights

   •  The Bombay High Court has allowed Muslim men to register more than one marriage, ruling that the Maharashtra Marriage Act does not override Muslim personal law, which permits up to four wives.
   •  The bench clarified that the Act does not prevent Muslim men from registering multiple marriages, as allowed by their personal laws.

The Bombay High Court has ruled that Muslim men are entitled to register multiple marriages, as their personal laws permit them to have up to four wives simultaneously. The court made this ruling while hearing an application from a Muslim man whose attempt to register his third marriage to an Algerian woman in February 2023 was rejected by the Thane Municipal Corporation.

The municipal authority had refused to issue a marriage certificate, citing the Maharashtra Regulation of Marriage Bureaus and Registration of Marriages Act, which it argued recognizes only one marriage at a time. However, on October 15, a High Court bench comprising Justices BP Colabawalla and Somasekhar Sundareshan rejected the corporation’s stance, calling it "wholly misconceived." The bench clarified that the Act does not prevent Muslim men from registering multiple marriages, as allowed by their personal laws.

“Muslim personal laws entitle men to have four wives at a time. Therefore, the submission that the Maharashtra Marriage Act only allows registration of a single marriage, even for a Muslim man, is not acceptable," the court stated. It further emphasized that nothing in the Act suggests an exclusion of Muslim personal laws.

The court also noted that the Thane Municipal Corporation had previously registered the man’s second marriage. The couple was instructed to submit all required documents within two weeks, after which the municipal body must decide on the marriage certificate within 10 days, following a personal hearing.

The court also ordered that no coercive action should be taken against the Algerian woman, whose passport expired in May, until the matter is resolved.