Assam proposes jail term heavy fines for polygamy

Assam proposes jail term heavy fines for polygamy

Bill, tabled in Assembly, seeks to ‘protect women, streamline society’; it covers residents entering such marriages outside State, but doesn’t apply to Scheduled Tribes and Sixth Schedule areas.

An anti-polygamy Bill tabled by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in the State Assembly on Tuesday prescribes imprisonment and heavy fines for people entering into, or hiding, a second marriage while the first continues to be valid.

The Assam Prohibition of Polygamy Bill, 2025, makes polygamy a criminal offence, punishable with up to seven years in jail and a fine, and up to 10 years in jail if a person enters into a marriage while concealing an existing one. The punishment will be doubled for repeat offenders, it says. Barring the Sixth Schedule areas, the draft law will be applicable across the State and will not cover members of the Scheduled Tribes under Article 342 of the Constitution. Customary laws of some tribes in Assam allow multiple marriages.

According to the Statement of Objects and Reasons, the Bill seeks to “prohibit and eliminate practices of polygamy”, protect women from hardship and “streamline the society”.

Other offenders

It brings village heads, qazis (Muslim clerics who solemnise marriages), parents, and legal guardians of people indulging in polygamy under its scope. Anyone who “wilfully hides, neglects or unreasonably delays” information to the police about such marriages may be punished as the main offenders and jailed for up to two years and fined up to ₹1 lakh.

The fine may extend to ₹1.5 lakh for any priest or qazi who solemnises a marriage contrary to the provisions of the law knowingly and willingly.

A provision covers any resident of Assam who willingly and knowingly enters into a polygamous marriage outside the State, as well as people who live outside Assam but own immovable property in the State or receive State-funded benefits, subsidies, or welfare support.

The Bill seeks to make people convicted under the law ineligible for government-funded or aided jobs and benefits under any government scheme, and bar them from contesting any election.

The draft law also provides a mechanism for compensation to women affected by polygamous marriages.

Polygamous marriages contracted before it comes into force will not be affected, as long as they follow existing personal or customary laws and have valid proof. It also gives police officers the power to intervene before a prohibited marriage takes place.