The laws relating to the Marriage and Divorce in Bangladesh are laws enacted by the parliament supported by Mohammedan (Muslim) laws (for the Muslims in Bangladesh, I shall not include laws relating to Marriage and Divorce of other religious group in this affidavit).
A person living in Bangladesh can choose Bangladesh as his/her domicile; and if a child is brought to Bangladesh by its parents and the parents wish to make Bangladesh its (the child’s) domicile; then the child shall be domiciled in Bangladesh.
The religious solemnization of a Muslim marriage means a Muslim scholar shall offer to a bride that the bride groom wishes to marry her for an amount of dower (meher money) and whether she has consent to the offer once the bride consents in front of witnesses; the Muslim scholar then again comes to the bride groom and the bride groom confirms his offer and accepts again in front of witnesses and thus the solemnization completes. Apart from this solemnization there are requirement of registration of marriage in accordance with section 3 of The Muslim Marriages and Divorce (Registration) Act 1974, according to this section every marriage solemnized in accordance with Muslim laws shall be registered in accordance with the provision of this Act.
Section 5 of the abovementioned Act provides that where a marriage is solemnized by the Nikah Registrar himself, he shall register the marriage at once; where a marriage is solemnized by a person other than the Nikah Registrar, the bridegroom shall report it to the concerned Nikah Registrar within thirty days from the date of solemnization; and where solemnization of a marriage is reported to a Nikah Registrar under sub section (2), he shall register the marriage at once.
The High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh in its Judgment in the case Abdullah vs Rokeya Khatoon 21 DLR 213 held that section 5 of the Muslim Family Law Ordinance makes it absolutely necessary that the marriage solemnized under the Muslim law shall be registered. The solemnization of marriage if validly affected might not be affected for non-registration of the marriage. Even in the later judgments of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh it was even more firmly established that mere non-registration of the marriage duly solemnized shall not affect the legality of the marriage.
The law regarding capacity to marriage is governed by Islamic laws and according to Islamic law a male can enter into polygamous marriage but women cannot. The law in Bangladesh makes entering into second marriage (by a male) without first wife’s permission a crime but the second marriage does not become invalid or null. However if a woman enters into a polygamous marriage that marriage will be null and void.
A ‘Nikahnama’ is a valid marriage certificate for Muslims in Bangladesh. In absence of a ‘Nikahnama’ a marriage can be proved by way oral evidence from witnesses present in the marriage celebration describing the marriage rituals being observed as per Islamic laws.
The law relating to Divorce in Bangladesh also covers both Muslim sharia Divorce i.e. Pronouncing of words talaq and registration of Talaq with a Muslim Marriage and Talaq Registrar or Kazi. Section 7 of the Muslim Family Law Ordinance 1961 requires that any man who wishes to divorce his wife shall, as soon as possible after the pronouncement of talaq in any form whatsoever, give the chairman notice in writing of his having done so, and shall supply a copy thereof to the wife. A talaq, unless revoked earlier, shall not be effective until the expiration of ninety days from the day on which notice is delivered to the chairman. Within thirty days of the receipt of notice the chairman shall constitute an arbitration council for the purposes of bringing about a reconciliation between the parties.
Section 6 of the Marriages and Divorces (Registration) Act 1974 governs registration of divorce by the Nikah Registrar. The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has held that “Talaq in any form shall not stand effective and talaq shall not be talaq in the eye of law unless provision contained in section 7(1) of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961 is sternly complied with…”
If a Notice was served and Talaq was registered in accordance with the law stated above, a legal Divorce or Talaq will be executed. Please note Muslim Divorce in Bangladesh does not require any court proceedings.