Polygamy - the practice of taking several wives - is “heinously patriarchal” observed the Gujarat high court even as it quashed the bigamy charges against a muslim man, reported the Times of India.

Gujarat high court justice JB Pardiwala quashed the charges against the man because bigamy and polygamy is currently legal under muslim personal law. But justice Pardiwala called for a uniform civil code in India “on the basis of modern progressive thinking”, and the mandate under Article 14 of the Indian constitution that the state must “endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory.”

“If the state tolerates this law, it becomes an accomplice in the discrimination of the female, which is illegal under its own laws,” the judge was reported as saying. He also said, “”... It’s for the maulvis and Muslim men to ensure that they do not abuse the Quran to justify the heinously patriarchal act of polygamy in self-interest.”

The courts in India have been vying for uniform civil code and the Supreme Court has asked the government to ensure necessary reforms in various cases. Huffington Post reported that the Supreme Court has observed in various cases that fundamental rights of the citizens affected by these laws. One of the observations in judgment in a christian divorce matter was quoted as “We have to stamp out religion from civil laws. It is very necessary. There are already too many problems because of this.”