Assam’s chief minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, announced on 2 September that the draft of a law to ban polygamy in the state will be ready within the next 45 days. It is expected to be introduced in the state assembly in December. Adding that the initial process has been completed, the CM said, “We will now proceed to the next stage of the process, which is to complete the final drafting of the bill in next 45 days.”
According to Himanta Biswa Sarma, the state government has received as many as 149 proposals in response to a public notice that asked for input on the proposed law that would prohibit the practice of being married to more than one person at a time.
Out of these, 146 recommendations are in favour of the legislation which demonstrated a substantial amount of support from the people. Three organisations, however, responded that they opposed it. This shows that almost 98% of the responses support the move, while only 2% oppose it.
– Update on proposed bill for banning polygamy –
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) September 2, 2023
We have received a total of 149 suggestions in response to our public notice. Out of these, 146 suggestions are in favor of the bill, indicating strong public support. However, 3 organizations have expressed their opposition to the…
Meanwhile, after addressing a meeting of Bharatiya Janata Party ally parties in Tinsukia on the same day, the chief minister stated, “A legal committee was formed to analyse whether the state government can ban polygamy or not, and we have received positive thoughts.”
He mentioned, “We also sought public opinions and suggestions on the proposed bill for banning polygamy. We have received a total of 149 suggestions in response to our public notice. Out of these, 146 suggestions are in favour of the bill and they support to ban on polygamy. However, three suggestions have expressed their opposition to banning polygamy. Our next phase is to draft the bill.”
Himanta Biswa Sarma further added, “We will now proceed to the next phase of the process, which is to complete the final drafting of the bill. In that law, some more points will be added through which we will try to tackle the issue of love jihad. days. The draft will be ready in the next 45 days, and I think we will be able to introduce the bill in the assembly in December this year.”
#WATCH | On banning polygamy in the state, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma says "A legal committee was formed to check if polygamy can be banned by the state govt or not. Later, we asked the public for their opinion if they had any objections. We received a total of 149 suggestions… pic.twitter.com/ZC9U2TNSQQ
— ANI (@ANI) September 3, 2023
The state administration published a notice on 21 August and sought feedback on whether polygamy should be banned. The notification invited people to email or share their opinions by 30 August. Quoting the report submitted by the expert committee on the matter, the public notice said: “The Indian Constitution grants the Union and the States the authority to enact legislation on certain subjects. “Marriage” falls under the Concurrent List, enabling both the Centre and the States to pass laws on it. The Doctrine of Repugnancy (Article 254) stipulates that it a state legislation contradicts a central legislation, the state law will be overridden unless it received the prior assent of the President of India.”
The notice added that while Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution provide freedom of conscience and the right to practice religion, these rights are not absolute and are subject to public order, morality, health and legislative provisions for social welfare and freedom.
Members of the public are requested to send us their suggestions on the proposed law to ban polygamy in Assam. pic.twitter.com/FpKl0MgYqB
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) August 21, 2023
The notice said that laws favouring monogamy do not violate Article 25. “With respect to Islam, the courts have held that having more than one wife is not an essential part of the religion. Legislation limiting the number of wives does not interfere with the right to practice religion and is within the scope of social welfare and reform,” it added.
The state government formed an expert committee on 12 May to study the legislative competence of the assembly to enact a law to ban polygamy. It was led by Justice (Retd.) Smt. Rumi Kumari Phukan as Chairperson, included esteemed members such as Shri Devajit Saikia, Advocate General of Assam, Shri Nalin Kohli, Senior Additional Advocate General of Assam and Shri Nekibur Zaman, Senior Advocate of Gauhati High Court.
The panel submitted its report on 6 August which affirmed that the state legislature has the authority to implement such a law. The administration had earlier requested suggestions and viewpoints on the proposed law from all stakeholders.
CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has also unveiled a comprehensive plan to combat child marriage in the state. He promised that every six months there would be a strict campaign as well as expressed his confidence in the police and predicted that the September campaign would result in some noteworthy arrests.
He asserted, “Every six months, our campaign against child marriage is set to take place. In September, the campaign will be taking place. Police are doing their job and you would get to see a big arrest during September.”
The CM also spoke on the issue of the withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from the state. “We will have to take the decision on whether the AFSPA is to be withdrawn or not. It is a view of the state government and the the Union government will take the final view. I will discuss it with the union government this month and towards the end of this month, a concrete decision will be taken.”
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 is an act of the Parliament of India that grants special powers to the Indian Armed Forces to maintain public order in “disturbed areas”. The Disturbed Areas Act of 1976 mandated that an area that has been designated as “disturbed” must retain the status quo for at least three months.
