Supreme Court Seeks Centre's Response On Plea Challenging Muslim Polygamy Practice

New Delhi, July 31, 2026: The Supreme Court on Friday sought the Centre's response to a petition seeking to declare the practice of polygamy among Muslims unconstitutional, saying it violates the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution.

A Bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohan issued notice to the Centre on the petition filed by women's rights activists Zakia Soman, Noorjehan Safia Niaz and others. The court also tagged the matter with similar pending petitions.

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Push For Equal Protection

The petition seeks the uniform application of Section 82 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which criminalises bigamy, by removing the exemption available under Muslim Personal Law. It also urges the Centre to take legislative steps to abolish polygamy and declare such marriages void ab initio, regardless of religion.

Besides challenging the existing legal framework, the petition seeks several measures aimed at protecting Muslim women. These include compulsory registration of all Muslim marriages and divorces with State authorities to prevent secret subsequent marriages, an immediate right to the matrimonial home for the first wife and children, and a fast-track mechanism to ensure timely maintenance in cases involving polygamous marriages.

Filed under Article 32 of the Constitution through advocate Shriya Maini, the petition challenges the constitutional validity of Section 2 of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937.

According to the petitioners, the provision validates polygamy and creates a legal vacuum by denying Muslim women the protection against bigamy available to other citizens under Section 82 of the BNS.

Petition Challenges Legal Exemption

The petitioners contend that polygamy is inherently discriminatory and violates Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution. They argue that while bigamy is a criminal offence for other citizens, Muslim men enjoy a legal exemption, creating unequal treatment under the law.

According to the plea, the practice causes severe psychological, emotional and economic harm to women and children, affecting their right to live with dignity under Article 21.

It further argues that the protection of religious freedom under Article 25 is subject to constitutional morality, public order, morality and health, and therefore cannot shield practices that undermine gender justice, PTI reported.

The petition also claims that polygamy contributes to female destitution and is often used to bypass legal safeguards introduced after the abolition of instant triple talaq. It states that empirical evidence points to emotional trauma, economic hardship and abandonment suffered by women in polygamous marriages.

The petition further argues that the practice encourages ill-founded religious conversion and has implications for public health and social morality.

Reference To Constitutional Principles

The petitioners have argued that polygamy is not an essential religious practice in Islam but only a permissive one, subject to the condition of "absolute justice", which they say the Quran itself describes as humanly impossible to achieve. They also pointed out that several Muslim-majority countries, including Tunisia and Turkey, have abolished polygamy.

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Seeking a declaration that the practice is unconstitutional, the petition also calls for the uniform application of bigamy laws to all citizens in the interest of gender justice and dignity.

Referring to Article 44 of the Constitution, the plea says the Directive Principles of State Policy envisage a Uniform Civil Code for harmonising civil laws and argues that the continued practice of polygamy runs contrary to that objective.

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