Could a Hindu, legally married to a woman, enter into a second marriage, by change of faith by becoming a Muslim ? The Bombay Prevention of Hindu Bigamous Act (No. XXXVIII of 1948) and the Madras (Bigamy Prevention and Divorce) Act of 1949 prohibit polygamy. Bigamy is considered as a sin and a crime. Monogamy is the rule rather than an exception. According to the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955, whoever having a husband or a wife living, cannot marry again, unless the first marriage is legally dissolved by a decree of divorce or nullity by a competent court of justice. In other words, the offence of bigamy can only be committed, if the first marriage operates as a bar to the second one. Under the personal law of the Hindus, plurality of wives was permissible, but by the enactment of the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955, the Legislature put an end to polygamy. Thus, it is crystal clear now that if a Hindu (emphasis on the word Hindu) marries a second wife, during the subsistence of his ....