{"id":718,"date":"2024-10-20T14:35:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-20T14:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/?p=718"},"modified":"2025-03-12T16:30:51","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T11:00:51","slug":"lily-thomas-vs-union-of-india-air-2000-sc-1650-case-summary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/family-law\/lily-thomas-vs-union-of-india-air-2000-sc-1650-case-summary\/","title":{"rendered":"Lily Thomas vs. Union of India (2000) (Case Summary) \u200b"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"718\" class=\"elementor elementor-718\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-7fe8f5df elementor-section-full_width elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no\" data-id=\"7fe8f5df\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-5f1813f7\" data-id=\"5f1813f7\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-6f10e156 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no\" data-id=\"6f10e156\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-13a1cbf4\" data-id=\"13a1cbf4\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-34bfd890 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"34bfd890\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Lily Thomas vs. union of India 2000 (Case Summary)<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-19d9cdd elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"19d9cdd\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1312\" height=\"736\" src=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/lilly-thomas-imge.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-1536x1536 size-1536x1536 wp-image-786\" alt=\"Lily Thomas vs Union of India\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/lilly-thomas-imge.jpeg 1312w, https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/lilly-thomas-imge-300x168.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/lilly-thomas-imge-1024x574.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/lilly-thomas-imge-768x431.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1312px) 100vw, 1312px\" title=\"\">\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-78832691 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"78832691\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The case of Lily Thomas vs. Union of India tackled the misuse of religious conversion as a way to bypass the prohibition of bigamy under Hindu law. Multiple petitions, including one by Sushmita Ghosh, challenged the practice of non-Muslim men converting to Islam with the sole purpose of remarrying, without dissolving their first marriage, thereby evading the legal requirements of their original personal laws.<\/span><\/p><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 ez-toc-wrap-left counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #000000;color:#000000\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #000000;color:#000000\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/family-law\/lily-thomas-vs-union-of-india-air-2000-sc-1650-case-summary\/#Facts_of_Lily_Thomas_vs_union_of_India\" >Facts of Lily Thomas vs. union of India<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/family-law\/lily-thomas-vs-union-of-india-air-2000-sc-1650-case-summary\/#Issues_framed\" >Issues framed<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/family-law\/lily-thomas-vs-union-of-india-air-2000-sc-1650-case-summary\/#Judgment_of_Lily_Thomas_vs_union_of_India\" >Judgment of Lily Thomas vs. union of India<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/family-law\/lily-thomas-vs-union-of-india-air-2000-sc-1650-case-summary\/#Click_here_to_read_the_Judgment\" >Click here to read the Judgment\u00a0<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Facts_of_Lily_Thomas_vs_union_of_India\"><\/span><span style=\"color: #993300;\"><b>Facts of Lily Thomas vs. union of India<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><ol><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The petitions were filed by several women, including Lily Thomas and Sushmita Ghosh, who were married under Hindu rites and whose husbands converted to Islam to remarry without divorcing them.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sushmita\u2019s husband, G.C. Ghosh, converted to Islam and sought a mutual consent divorce to marry another woman, Vanita Gupta. Despite the conversion, he neither practiced Islam nor changed his name in official records, indicating that the conversion was merely to facilitate a second marriage.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The petitioners claimed that such conversions violated their rights under Hindu law and amounted to cruelty, as the conversion was used to avoid the stringent divorce laws of their original religion.<\/span><\/li><\/ol><h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Issues_framed\"><\/span><b style=\"color: #993300; font-style: inherit;\">Issues framed<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><ol><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether the conversion of a Hindu man to Islam for the purpose of contracting a second marriage, without genuine faith in the new religion, is valid?<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether such conversions violate the principles of Hindu marriage law, specifically regarding the prohibition of bigamy?<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether the right to freedom of religion can be used to evade the marital obligations under personal laws?<\/span><\/li><\/ol><h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Judgment_of_Lily_Thomas_vs_union_of_India\"><\/span><span style=\"color: #993300;\"><b>Judgment of Lily Thomas vs. union of India<br \/><\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The case focused on Section 5 of the Hindu Marriage Act, which prohibits bigamy, alongside Article 25 of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Supreme Court held that conversion to Islam solely for the purpose of remarriage, without genuine faith or belief in the religion, is not valid. Such conversions do not exempt individuals from the personal laws governing their original religion. The Court emphasized that conversion must be based on genuine faith, and using religious conversion to commit bigamy is a violation of the Hindu Marriage Act.<\/span><\/p><p><b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Court ruled that the practice of converting solely to remarry, while maintaining the rights and benefits of the original religion, would not be tolerated. Marriages contracted under such circumstances would be void under the Hindu Marriage Act. The judgment reinforced women&#8217;s rights and aimed to prevent the misuse of religious freedom as a loophole for bigamy.<\/span><\/b><span style=\"color: #993300;\"><b><br \/><\/b><\/span><\/p><h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Click_here_to_read_the_Judgment\"><\/span><span style=\"color: #993300;\"><b><a href=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/Lily-Thomas-vs-Union-of-India-Judgment.pdf\">Click here to read the Judgment<\/a>\u00a0<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-15755641 elementor-widget elementor-widget-pdfjs-viewer\" data-id=\"15755641\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"pdfjs-viewer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<iframe width=\"\" height=\"700\" src=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdfjs-viewer-for-elementor\/\/assets\/js\/pdfjs\/web\/viewer.html?file=https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/Lily-Thomas-vs-Union-of-India-Judgment.pdf\"><\/iframe>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-10b4771\" data-id=\"10b4771\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The case of Lily Thomas vs. Union of India tackled the misuse of religious conversion as a way to bypass the prohibition of bigamy under Hindu law. Multiple petitions, <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":786,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[15,12],"class_list":["post-718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family-law","tag-article-25","tag-supreme-court"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=718"}],"version-history":[{"count":52,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4464,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718\/revisions\/4464"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}