The case involves multiple petitions filed by wives Lily Thomas and others challenging the practice of non-Muslim men( their husband’s) converting to Islam solely to remarry without legally dissolving their first marriage under their original personal laws. The petitioners argued that such conversions were often pretend and used as a means to bypass the stringent divorce laws applicable to their original religion, particularly Hindu law, which prohibits bigamy.
Facts of the Case
Issues of the case
Judgment
The Supreme Court of India, in its judgment delivered by Justices R.P. Sethi and S. Saghir Ahmad, addressed the issue of conversion to Islam for the sole purpose of remarrying. The court held that conversion to Islam solely for the purpose of contracting a second marriage, without any genuine faith in the new religion, is not valid. Such marriages would be considered void under the law as per Hindu Marriage Act Section 5 . The judgment reinforced the protection of women’s rights under Article 15(1) and aimed to prevent the misuse of religious conversion as a loophole to circumvent personal laws.
The court’s decision emphasized the need for genuine faith and practice when converting to another religion, particularly when such conversion impacts marital laws and the rights of spouses under the original personal laws.
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