An anti-polygamy Bill tabled by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in the Assam Assembly on Tuesday prescribes imprisonment and heavy fines for people entering into, or hiding, a second marriage while the first continues to be valid.
The Assam Prohibition of Polygamy Bill, 2025, makes polygamy a criminal offence, entailing up to seven years in jail and a fine, and up to 10 years if a person convicted of the offence hides an existing marriage. The punishment will be doubled for repeat offenders, it says.
Barring the Sixth Schedule areas, the draft law will be applicable across the State and will not cover members of the Scheduled Tribes under Article 342 of the Constitution. Customary laws of some tribes in Assam allow multiple marriages.
According to the Statement of Objects and Reasons, the Bill aims to “prohibit and eliminate practices of polygamy”, protect women from hardship and “streamline the society”.
It brings village heads, qazis (Muslim clerics who solemnise marriages), parents, and legal guardians of people indulging in polygamy under its scope. Anyone who “wilfully hides, neglects or unreasonably delays” information to the police about such marriages may be punished as the main offenders and jailed for up to two years and fined up to ₹1 lakh.
The fine may extend to ₹1.5 lakh for any priest or qazi who solemnises a marriage contrary to the provisions of the law knowingly and willingly. Penalties have been prescribed for other abettors, too.
A provision of the Bill expands the scope of its jurisdiction beyond residents of the State. It covers any resident of Assam who willingly and knowingly enters into a polygamous marriage outside the State, as well as people who live outside Assam but own immovable property in the State or receive State-funded benefits, subsidies, or welfare support.
The Bill seeks to make people convicted under the anti-polygamy law ineligible for government-funded or aided jobs and benefits under any government scheme, and bar them from contesting any election in the State.
The draft law also provides a mechanism for compensation to women affected by polygamous marriages. A designated authority will be notified to process applications and disburse compensation, it says.
The Bill specifies that polygamous marriages contracted before it comes into force will not be affected, as long as they follow existing personal or customary laws and have valid proof. It also gives police officers the power to intervene before a prohibited marriage takes place.
The Opposition parties had earlier criticised the decision to table the anti-polygamy Bill as a move by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Assam government to target Muslims ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls. The Bill was introduced in the absence of the MLAs of Congress, CPI(M), and Raijor Dal, who staged a walkout after a discussion on the death of singer-composer-actor Zubeen Garg.
