Assam CM Himanta Sarma Invites Public Suggestions On Proposed Law To Ban Polygamy

A government notice requesting the people to send their opinion on the proposed polygamy law by August 30 was tweeted by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted that members of the public are requested to send the government their suggestions on the proposed law to ban polygamy.

Source : PTI

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday asked the public to send their suggestions and opinions on the proposed law to ban polygamy in Assam. In a post on X, Sarma shared a notice signed by the principal secretary of the Home Department requesting the people to send their opinion by August 30 through email or by post

"Members of the public are requested to send us their suggestions on the proposed law to ban polygamy in Assam," Sarma tweeted while attaching the notice.

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 mentioned that the Assam government had formed an expert committee to study the legislative competence of the Assembly to enact a law banning polygamy. The public notice also shared the executive summary of the report and said that marriage falls under the Concurrent List, enabling both the Centre and states to pass laws on it.

"The Doctrine of Repugnancy (Article 254) stipulates that if a state legislation contradicts a central legislation, the state law will be overridden unless it received the prior assent of the President of India," it added.

Quoting the report, the notice also mentioned that freedom of conscience and the right to practice religion under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution are "not absolute and are subject to public order, morality, health and legislative provisions for social welfare and reform".

On May 11,  the Assam government had constituted a four-member expert committee to examine the legislative competence of state legislature to enact a law to end polygamy in the state.

The expert committee comprised of Justice (Retired) Rumi Kumari Phukan as the chairperson, Assam Advocate General Debajit Saikia and Additional Advocate General Nalin S Kohli as members, and Nekibur Zaman as Advocate.

Earlier, the Chief Minister had announced that the state government will move to ban the practice of polygamy in Assam through “legislative action”. The Chief Minister had also emphasised that the ban on polygamy would be achieved through consensus and not aggression.

Polygamy is a type of marriage that involves marrying more than one partner.