The Kerala High Court has ruled that the first wife of a Muslim man must be heard by the relevant statutory authorities before registering his second marriage under the Kerala Registration of Marriages (Common) Rules, 2008.
Justice PV Kunhikrishnan noted that the law of the land would prevail if a second marriage had to be registered, even though Muslim personal law allows a man to marry a second time in certain situations. Religion would thus become secondary to constitutional rights.
The court made its observations while considering an application by a Muslim man and his second wife who were aggrieved by the alleged non-registration of their marriage by the relevant registering authority.
The court dismissed their suit and stated that the man’s first wife was not even a party to the suit. However, petitioners can file an application before the respondents concerned. Subsequently, the marriage registrar must issue a notice to the man’s first wife. If she objects to the registration of the second marriage as invalid, the parties can turn to the competent court to determine the validity of the second marriage. Let Muslim women also get an opportunity to be heard if their husbands remarry, at least at the second marriage stage.
In this case, the petitioner, who has two children from his first marriage registered with the registering authority, remarried under common law. He thus had two children from his second marriage and wanted to register the marriage in order to have the right to his property as well. The petitioners approached the HC after the registering authority refused to register the second marriage.
Published – 04 Nov 2025 20:52 IST
