Guwahati. Chief Minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma, announced on Saturday that the final draft of the proposed bill aimed at banning polygamy in the state will be completed within the next 45 days.
The Assam government had issued a public appeal on August 21 seeking input on the prohibition of polygamy and received a total of 149 suggestions. Out of these, 146 were in favour of the bill, while three organisations expressed their opposition to it.
Last month, CM indicated that the state government intended to introduce the bill to ban polygamy during the upcoming assembly session in September.
In a tweet, CM Sarma stated, “We will now proceed to the next stage of the process, which is to complete the final drafting of the bill in the next 45 days”.
Previously, the Assam government had established an expert committee to assess the legal feasibility of passing a law prohibiting polygamy within the state’s legislative framework. The committee, chaired by Justice (Retd.) Rumi Kumari Phukan, included esteemed members such as Devajit Saikia, advocate general of Assam; Nalin Kohli, senior additional advocate general of Assam, and Nekibur Zaman, senior advocate of Gauhati High Court.
The Expert Committee submitted its findings to the Chief Minister, recommending that the State Legislature indeed possess the authority to enact a law banning polygamy.