Indian lawyer, Lily Thomas petitioned the Supreme Court and other courts to amend and enhance current legislation. Significant judicial rulings in a number of areas, including family laws and things that were against the Indian constitution, were brought about by her petitions.
The lily thomas vs union of india case is recognized as a turning point in Indian history. The Supreme Court of India took preventive action in order to avoid solemnizing second weddings without a valid and lawful dissolution of the prior marriage. After this ruling, it was decided that if a couple marries without first getting a valid divorce from their first marriage, the second marriage would be deemed illegal. If this is discovered, the husband would be prosecuted for bigamy under sections 494 and 495 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860.
lily thomas case Summary
Facts of the Case:
The wife of GC Ghosh (Mohd. Karim Ghazi), Sushmita Ghosh, filed a writ suit in the Supreme Court claiming that they were married on May 10, 1984, in accordance with Hindu customs and ceremonies.
- On April 1, 1992, Sushmita Ghosh’s husband informed her that he had chosen to remarry Miss Vanita Gupta, a resident of Delhi, after converting to Islam. It is in the petitioner’s best interest to consent to the divorce.
- The petitioner claimed that her husband’s actions had subjected her to sex and religious discrimination. The Indian Constitution’s Article 15 (1), which protected her rights, was violated. It was argued that his husband’s real motivation for becoming an Islamic convert was to have a second wife, something that is illegal under Hindu law.
- Due to their husband’s activities, the petitioner, who is 34 years old, has experienced severe emotional anguish and is unemployed. The petitioner said that research had shown that Hindu men who were unable to secure a divorce often yearned for a second bride who would convert to Islam in order to satisfy their desire. They remarry or get divorced, at which point they convert once more to obtain property titles.
Issues of the Case:
Key issues brought up by the Lily Thomas Case are as follows:
- Should all citizens be subject to a uniform civil code?
- Can a Hindu husband who converts to Islam legally enter into a second marriage?
- Is the husband subject to Section 494 of the IPC for bigamy?
Contentions by the Petitioner:
- The petitioner’s first argument was that, given that marriage is a sacred institution, how can one use the act of converting to Islam to commit bigamy when Muslim personal law permits it. This is an attempt to violate Article 21 by denying women the freedom to confront such a bigamous marriage and betrayal (right to life and liberty).
- Lily Thomas argued in court that Muslim law prohibits male polygamy and that it is therefore unconstitutional.
- The court was requested to use the Uniform Civil Code in order to address a wide range of socio-legal problems resulting from different personal laws of religion.
- A large number of Muslim women have petitioned the SC and HC to declare polygamy illegal under Muslim law.
- To amend Muslim personal law to reflect modern times and outlaw polygamy, which denigrates the integrity and freedom of women forced into such circumstances.
- To create a Uniform Civil Code so that no legislation based on personal religion violates fundamental rights.
Contentions by the Respondent:
- The petitioner’s plea was agreed upon by the State, which expressed its satisfaction.
- As a result, numerous changes were made with reference to this context.
latest Supreme Court judgment on bigamy Case:
lily thomas case judges list: Justice Sagir Ahmad and Justice R Sethi
- The Court in April 2000, held that a Hindu husband who enters into a second marriage after converting does not do so out of conscience; rather, the conversion is obviously false and staged to serve a hidden agenda, which is to enter into a second marriage without facing legal repercussions.
- As a result, it was established that since Article 21 had been broken, the marriage was null and void.
- It is not enough to say that a husband’s conversion to a different religion dissolves the marriage.
- A marriage entered into by converting to Islam while the previous one was still in place is punishable by various sections of the Indian Penal Code.
- Since marriage occurs in accordance with each individual’s own law, there are no laws in India pertaining to marriage.
- As a result, such things could not be codified, and treating such a matter under the universal civil code would be an injustice to an individual’s personal beliefs.
- However, wrongdoing committed under the guise of such personal law is punishable, as the Supreme Court did in this instance by declaring it unlawful to convert to Islam and marry someone else while still married to one’s first wife.
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