Assam one step closer to polygamy ban: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma gets expert panel go-ahead, says law soon

Assam will have in place a law banning the practice of polygamy within this financial year, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said after receiving the go-ahead from an expert committee formed by the state government to examine whether it can enact a legislation in this regard.

The four-member committee, headed by Justice (Retd) Rumi Kumari Phukan and comprising Assam Advocate General Devajit Saikia, Sr Additional AG Nalin Kohli and Advocate Nekibur Zaman as members, was formed by the state government to examine if the state legislature was within its rights to enact a law banning polygamy in the state.

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After receiving the report, CM Sarma said that the committee has affirmed the rights of the state legislature to enact a law to ban polygamy and claimed that a Bill to this effect will be tabled in the Assembly in the coming Monsoon session or the Budget session next year.

“The committee was entrusted with the task of finding out whether the state government can formulate a law to ban polygamy. The committee has told us that we do have such a right, but the legislation must be given final assent by the President and not the Governor,” Sarma said speaking to journalists in Guwahati.

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Sarma further said that the Bill may be tabled during the Assembly session from September 16 or in the Budget session early next year. “We will need to give time to MLAs to discuss and debate the issue. But it is sure that the law will come into effect within the existing financial year,” he said.

Discussing the broad contours of the report submitted by the government-appointed p[anel, Sarma said that since existing state laws on Muslim marriages don’t specify the eligible age of the brides and groom, the committee also suggested keeping a provision to mention the eligible age for marriage for all in the proposed polygamy law so that there’s no lack of clarity with that and rules under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Sharing the update on X (formerly Twitter), Sarma said that Assam is now closer to creating a positive ecosystem for women’s empowerment irrespective of caste, creed or religion. He further said that most communities have favoured a ban on polygamy and have indicated that they would welcome such legislation.