Assam: Governor constitutes 5-member Committee to draft legislation on banning polygamy

The Committee will have to submit its draft legislation within a period of 45 days

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Assam Governor Gulab Chand Kataria has constituted a five-member committee to draft an appropriate legislation for banning polygamy. The committee will be headed by Advocate General of Assam Devajit Saikia as the Chairman.
The other members of the Committee include-
GP Singh- DGP Assam (Member)
Nalin Kohli- Senior Additional Advocate General Assam (Member)
Romen Baruah-Legal Remembrancer and Secretary, Judicial Department, Assam (Member)
Biswajit Pegu-Secretary Home and Political Department Assam (Member Secretary)
The Committee will have to submit its draft legislation within a period of 45 days from the date of issue of the notification.
As per the orders of the Governor, the terms of reference of the Committee are-
The Committee will take suggestions received into consideration
The Committee will go through the three petitions which are in opposition to the legislation. If necessary, the Committee will personally hear those who are not in support of the legislation to know their viewpoints
The Committee may meet the Chairman of the Law Commission in this regard.
The legislation to be drafted for banning polygamy will also cover other related issues like tackling inter religious marriage by false identity, the role of Kaji in the matter of child marriage etc.

On August 6, the 4-member Expert Committee headed by Justice Rumi Kumari Phukan submitted the report to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
The 4-member committee was formed to examine whether the state legislature was empowered to prohibit polygamy. The panel was tasked with holding extensive discussions with all stakeholders, including legal experts, regarding the matter in order to arrive at a well-informed decision.
On September 3, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma informed that his government is likely to introduce a Bill in the Assembly by December. Taking to X (formerly known as Twitter), Chief Minister Sarma said, “- Update on proposed bill for banning polygamy –
We have received a total of 149 suggestions in response to our public notice. Out of these, 146 suggestions are in favor of the bill, indicating strong public support. However, 3 organizations have expressed their opposition to the bill.
We will now proceed to the next stage of the process, which is to complete the final drafting of the bill in next 45 days.”

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