by Muslim Mirror Staff

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has formed a four-member expert committee to assess whether the State legislature has the authority to pass a law to prohibit polygamy.

The committee, led by Justice (Retired) Rumi Phookan, has been instructed to provide its findings within two months. The other committee members include Assam advocate general Debajit Saikia, additional advocate general Nalin Kohli, and senior advocate Nekibur Zaman.

“Following my announcement to form an expert committee to examine the legislative competence of state legislature to enact a law to end polygamy, the state government has constituted the committee today… The committee has been given a deadline of 60 days to submit its report,” the Chief Minister said.

On Tuesday, Sarma announced that the State government would establish a committee of legal experts to assess the legality of prohibiting polygamy through legislative action in Assam. He mentioned that the committee would specifically analyze the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937 and Article 25 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees the freedom of religion, including the practice and propagation of one’s faith.

“We are not going towards Uniform Civil Code (UCC) for which a national consensus will be required, and the Central government will take an initiative in this regard,” Sarma had said at a press conference on May 9 to mark the completion of two years of his government.

UCC is a “much wider aspect” and in Assam, “we are announcing our intention to ban polygamy in the state as one component of the UCC “, he had said.