The Kerala High Court has held that a Muslim man’s first wife must be heard by the statutory authorities concerned, before registering his second marriage under the Kerala Registration of Marriages (Common) Rules, 2008.
A Bench of Justice P. V. Kunhikrishnan observed that the law of the land would prevail if a second marriage has to be registered, even though Muslim personal law allowed a man to marry a second time in certain situations. Religion would thus become secondary to constitutional rights.
