Practice of solemnizing second marriage by conversion to Islam which allows polygamy is not legal

The case involved a batch of four writ petitions, one by Kalyani, a women’s rights organisation and others by aggrieved wives. The common claim is the practice of Hindu men converting to Islam during a subsisting first marriage to marry another woman to avoid the prosecution under bigamy. The court held that the conversion to Islam does not automatically dissolve the first marriage of the husbands of the petitioners and the first marriage subsists attendant with all the rights and liabilities. It stated that ‘if one of the parties is allowed to dissolve the marriage by adopting and enforcing a new personal law, it would tantamount to destroying the existing rights of the other spouse who continues to be Hindu’ Thus, since the first marriage remains valid, the second marriage would be illegal making the husband liable for prosecution under Section 494 of IPC for the crime of bigamy. Further, if the second marriage was held to be legal, it would defeat the purpose of outlawing bigamy. While everyone has the freedom to adopt a religion of their choice under Article 25 of the Constitution, the same cannot be used to defeat the rights of others and escape the consequences of bigamy. Thus, conversion only for the purpose of marriage is a ‘deliberate distortion’.