Kerala High Court: In a significant ruling concerning the registration of marriages under Muslim Personal Law, a Single Judge Bench of P.V. Kunhikrishnan, J., held that an opportunity of being heard must be given to the first wife before the registration of Muslim man’s second marriage, and if the first wife objects, the Registrar must not register the second marriage and refer the parties to a competent Court.
Background:
The husband married his first wife and had two children, and the said marriage was registered before the jurisdictional registering authority. While the first marriage was subsisting, he married another woman, on 17-08-2017, as per the Muslim religious customs. It was submitted that the husband and his second wife were living together and their marriage was supported by a letter attesting to the solemnisation.
The second wife was previously married to someone else and had two children in that wedlock. That marriage was dissolved when the man had pronounced Talaq due to differences in opinion and an agreement was executed between the two regarding the said separation of marriage.
Two children were born to the husband and his second wife, and they are both minors. The couple submitted that considering their children’s future and for getting the lawful right of the husband’s property to the second wife and her children, they decided to register their marriage before the Local Self Government Institution. But Respondent 2 was not ready to register the marriage and did not provide any valid reason for not doing so.
The couple asserted that they are Indian Citizens and are followers of Muslim Customary Law. It was submitted that, as per the Muslim Personal Law, a Muslim male is entitled to have four wives at a time, and therefore, the Registrar was bound to register the second marriage. They prayed for a writ of mandamus directing the respondents to register their marriage.
Issue:
Whether the second marriage can be registered as per the Kerala Registration of Marriages (Common) Rules, 2008 (‘Rules 2008’) behind the back of the first wife, when a Muslim man marries again while his first wife is alive and the marital relationship with her is in existence.
Analysis and Decision:
The Court referred to Jubairiya v. Saidalavi N., 2025 SCC OnLine Ker 8603, wherein it was held that “the spirit and intention of the Quranic verses is monogamy, and polygamy is only an exception, and the small minority among the Muslim community who are following polygamy, forgetting the verses of the Quran, are to be educated by the religious leaders and society”.
The Court noted that the husband wanted to register his second marriage in accordance with Rule 11 of the Rules 2008, framed based on the Supreme Court’s directions in Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, (2006) 2 SCC 578. Columns 3(f) and (g) of the Form 1 appended to the Rules 2008, mandated that the parties’ previous marital status is to be mentioned so that the Registrar of Marriages could easily find out whether this was the second marriage of any of the parties when the earlier marriage existed. The Court also referred to Hussain v. State of Kerala, 2025 SCC OnLine Ker 3811, to clarify that the Registrar has no authority to decide the validity of the marriage or the competence of the parties to get married at the time of considering the memorandum.
The Court opined that the Quran is silent about the first wife’s consent for the second marriage but at the same time it does not prohibit the option of obtaining consent from the first wife or at least informing her before her husband marries again. The Court further opined that equality in gender is a constitutional right of every citizen and men are not superior to women, and even the principles derived from the Quran and Hadith collectively enjoin principles of justice, fairness, and transparency in all marital dealings.
The Court observed that if a Muslim man wanted to register his second marriage in accordance with the Rules 2008, when his first marriage was in existence and the first wife was alive, an opportunity of hearing should be given to the first wife for the registration. The Court opined that the first wife could not be a silent spectator to the registration of the second marriage of her husband even though the Muslim Personal Law allowed a second marriage to a man in certain situations.
The Court observed that the husband can marry again if his Personal Law permits him, but an opportunity of hearing to the first wife is necessary as the law of the land will prevail and the customary law is not applicable when the question of registering a second marriage arises. In such situations, religion is secondary and constitutional rights are supreme. The Court cannot ignore the feelings of the first wife and allow a Muslim man to march over her, for registering his second marriage, without notice to the first wife. The Court opined that the Muslim women must also get an opportunity of being heard when their husbands remarried, at least at the stage of registering the second marriage. But if the second marriage occurred after pronouncing talaq to the first wife, there was no need to give notice to the first wife.
The Court noted that the first wife was not even a party to the present petition, and consequently, dismissed the petition observing that it must not be entertained. The Court clarified that the petitioners were free to file an appropriate application before the respondents and directed that the Registrar of Marriages must give notice to the first wife if such an application was received. If she objected to the registration, the parties must approach a competent Court to determine the validity of the second marriage.
[Muhammad Shareef C. v. State of Kerala, WP(C) No. 26010 of 2025, decided on 30-10-2025]
Advocates who appeared in this case:
For the Petitioner: Aswanth P.T., Manuel P.J., Advocates.
For the Respondents: V.N. Ramesan Nambisan GP, Jessy S.