The Gujarat High Court ruled that Indian Penal Code against re-marriage during the lifetime of husband or wife could not be enforced on Muslim men ying under the Shari'ah.
In a strongly-worded observation in the case of a man who took a second wife, the Gujarat High Court has said that the Quran "does not say that a Muslim can treat his wife cruelly" and marry again without legally dissolving his first marriage.
The Quran was being "misinterpreted by some Muslim men" to get away with more than one marriage, the court said on Thursday.
"When the Quran allowed polygamy, it was for a fair reason. When men use that provision today, they do it for a selfish reason," said Justice JB Pardiwala, taking a tough view on the petition of Jafar Abbas Merchant, a resident of Bhavnagar, who was sued by his wife after he married another woman.
Sajida Merchant has said that the marriage is illegal as the Indian Penal Code bans polygamy. After a lower court ruled in her favour, her husband went to the high court and argued that the Muslim personal law allows men to marry four times.
The high court disagreed, saying polygamy finds mention in the Quran only once, "and it is about conditional polygamy."
"Some Muslim men are able to get away with by misinterpreting and using to their advantage the message of the holy Prophet Mohammad, which is reflected in the holy Quran. The Quran does not say that a Muslim can treat his wife cruelly, drive her out and without dissolution the first marriage in accordance with law, he can marry for the second time and up to four times," said the judge.
He also said that it was time for the country to embrace the uniform civil code, but left it to the government to decide, saying: "On the basis of modern, progressive thinking, India must shun the practice and establish uniform civil code."
The judge had appointed an amicus curiae or "friend of the court" who consulted Muslim leaders, legal experts and various past rulings before giving his advise.