GUWAHATI: Taking a stringent stance against bigamy, the Assam government has decreed that its employees cannot marry another individual if their current spouse is still living.
The Office Memorandum (OM) issued by the personnel department, intriguingly, while steering clear of the topic of divorce, lays down a firm guideline – “Should an employee wish to remarry while their spouse is alive, they must first seek the government’s blessing”.
The notification, which was issued by personnel additional chief secretary Niraj Verma on October 20, came to light on Thursday.
The edict states, “No government servant who has a wife living shall contract another marriage without first obtaining the permission of the government, notwithstanding that such subsequent marriage is permissible under the personal law for the time being applicable to him.”
The directive applies equally to female government servants wishing to marry a man whose wife is still living, the memorandum stated.
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The basis for this sudden guideline? Rule 26 of The Assam Civil Services (Conduct) Rules 1965. The Memo also stated that any violation of this directive won’t just be a slap on the wrist.
The order is armed with the provision of initiating immediate departmental proceedings, with potential penalties ranging from major disciplinary actions to even compulsory retirement.
“In the context of the above provisions, the disciplinary authority may initiate immediate departmental proceeding…for imposition of major penalty, including compulsory retirement,” the order stated.
As the murmurs and discussions continue, the memorandum has gone a step further, urging authorities to adopt necessary legal measures upon the discovery of such cases.
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The edict comes on the heels of the government’s efforts to curb polygamy in the state.
Earlier in September, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, while defending the government’s efforts to curb polygamy in the state, had asserted that such measures are aimed at benefiting the Muslim community and protecting women’s rights.
Brushing off allegations that his government is anti-Muslim, he had justified the government’s move adding that many Islamic countries have already eliminated such “bad practices”.
