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Mr. B. Haniffa who is a resident of Mathur Village, Dharmapuri, was a member of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) from 1991. He was married, with two children. While he was being treated for certain injuries in the year 2008 his wife ran away with his children. The whereabouts of his wife were unknown for a long time.
Following which Haniffa consulted his Masjid Committee, the leaders of his religion, and was advised to marry another woman. He took their advice and married another woman as per his religious customs and traditions. On August 21, 2009 he applied for a leave application where he referred to his first wife as the dependent.
While the leave application was under review, the department received a letter from his first wife indicating that Haniffa is living with his second wife and child without divorcing the her which is against the CISF rules . She sought strict actions against him. After the receipt of this letter the Haniffa was ousted from his position. The final order of his dismissal came on 2nd September 2010 after due deliberations and inquiries in the department.
While conducting the inquiries the CISF realised that he was residing in the government quarters with his second wife and children. They also realised that as per Haniffa his first marriage was annulled by the Masjid Committee and the religious leaders. He also stated that as per his religious traditions bigamy is not an offence and is permissible in Muslim Religious Laws.
Mr. Haniffa was unhappy with the decision of the internal committee of the CISF hence decided to approach the Madras High Court seeking a relief against his dismissal order. He challenged the order of dismissal on the grounds that the Muslim Personal Laws does not regard bigamy as an offence. His counsel also contended that the personal laws prevail over the statutory laws of the country.
While considering the above contentions and addressing the trauma faced by a deserted woman on account of arbitraty dissolution of marriages, Justice Bhavani Subbaroyan held:
“No authority except a court of law can exercise judicial power in the adjudication of disputes. No personal law can declare a marriage as null and void and nd the power to dissolve such marriage vests only with a court of law Neither a religious organisation nor the village panchayat eaded by village headmen can dissolve any marriage for that matter."
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