Overview
- The ruling directs registrars under the 2008 Kerala Registration of Marriages (Common) Rules to verify prior marital status and issue notice to the existing spouse.
- If the first wife objects on grounds of invalidity, the registrar must withhold registration and refer the parties to a competent civil court.
- The bench underscored that equality and non-discrimination protections under Articles 14 and 15 govern civil registration procedures.
- The writ petition by a man and his second wife was dismissed because the first wife was not made a party to the proceedings.
- The case involved a subsisting, registered first marriage and a second union solemnized by custom, with the petitioners seeking registration to secure property rights for two children from the later relationship.