The Kerala High Court has held that a Muslim man’s second marriage cannot be registered under the 2008 Kerala Registration of Marriages Common Rules, unless his first wife is first notified and given an opportunity to be heard, Bar and Bench reported on Wednesday.

Justice PV Kunhikrishnan observed that while Muslim personal law allows a man to have multiple wives, this right cannot override constitutional principles of equality and fair hearing.

The judge said that since marriage registration is a legal process, basic fairness under the 2008 Rules requires that the first wife, whose marriage is still valid, must be informed before her husband’s second marriage is registered.

Kunhikrishnan added that if the first wife objects to the registration on the grounds that the second marri

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