Gujarat HC pitches for uniform civil code, says stop Muslim polygamy
The bench called for an amendment of the Muslim Personal Law, calling its provision that allows a man four wives ‘heinously patriarchal’.
The Gujarat High Court on Thursday made a strong pitch for a uniform civil code and called for the abolition of Muslim polygamy in India, calling it “heinously patriarchal”. The court recommended an amendment of Muslim Personal Law, adding that its polygamy provisions are often used for “selfish reasons”. Justice JB Pardiwala passed the order while hearing a plea filed by a man facing bigamy charges. Jafar Abbas Merchant approached the court after his first wife filed an FIR against him for marrying again without her consent. In his plea, Merchant stated that Muslim Personal Law allowed a man to marry four times and that his first wife’s complaint had no legal standing.
Justice Pardiwala had to quash the bigamy charges, but said “if the state tolerates this law, it becomes an accomplice in the discrimination of the female, which is illegal under its own law”. He added that the provision to have four wives violates the Constitution.
