Guwahati: The Assam government will introduce a bill to end polygamy in the state during the upcoming budget session of the assembly, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.
Addressing a press conference, Sarma said the draft of the bill is being scrutinised by the Law Department at present. "We are lining up an act to ban polygamy in the state during the budget session of the assembly. It is with the Law Department for vetting," he said.
Sarma said his government was looking forward to the legislation on Uniform Civil Code (UCC) which will be considered during a special four-day session of the Uttarakhand assembly from February 5.
"We will monitor the bill and see if we can implement it fully. We have time to examine it and proceed accordingly," he added. The budget session of the Assam assembly will begin on February 5 and conclude on February 28.
The budget for next fiscal will be presented on February 12. The Assam government earlier has sought public opinion on a proposed law to end polygamy in the state. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had shared a government public notice on 'X', formerly Twitter. He appealed to the people to send their suggestions on the proposed law to ban polygamy in Assam.
The notice published by the Principal Secretary of the Home and Political Department requested the people to send their opinion by August 30 last year through email or by post. It mentioned that the Assam government had formed an expert committee to study the legislative competence of the Assembly to enact a law banning polygamy, and the report stated that the state legislature is competent to enact a law to ban the marital practice.
Sharing the executive summary of the report, the public notice stated that marriage falls under the Concurrent List, enabling both the Centre and states to pass laws on it. "The Doctrine of Repugnancy (Article 254) stipulates that if a state legislation contradicts a central legislation, the state law will be overridden unless it received the prior assent of the President of India," it added.
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Expert committee submits report on Assam's legislative competence to end polygamy
