Guwahati: The Expert Committee formed to examine the legislative competence of the State Legislature to enact a law to end polygamy in Assam submitted its report to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on August 6. Taking to Twitter, the Assam Chief Minister said, “Today, the Expert Committee, formed to examine the legislative competence of the State Legislature to enact a law to end polygamy in Assam, submitted its report.”
“Assam is now closer to creating a positive ecosystem for women’s empowerment irrespective of caste, creed or religion,” he added.
Earlier in May this year, CM Sarma said that the state government wants to ban polygamy in the state and added that an expert committee would be formed to check if the state has the authority to prohibit polygamy in the region.
“We are not going through Uniform Civil Code (UCC), but we want to ban polygamy under a State Act. Assam Government has decided to form an expert committee to investigate whether the State Government has the authority to prohibit polygamy in the region. Assam Government wants to ban polygamy in the state”, CM Sarma said.
He further said that the committee will engage broadly in discussions with all stakeholders, including legal experts, and will scrutinize the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Act, 1937 provisions.
“The committee will scrutinize the provisions of The Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Act, 1937, along with Article 25 of the Constitution of India, in relation to the directive principle of state policy for a uniform civil code. The committee will engage in extensive discussions with all stakeholders, including legal experts, to arrive at a well-informed decision”, he had said.
Earlier, during the run-up to the Karnataka elections, he said that implementing a Uniform Civil Code is important in the state for ending the system of men making “four marriages” and women being made “child-producing machines”. ( With Inputs ANI)
