Mumbai Oct 22 (Reporter) Bombay high court has asked the Thane civic body to hear a Muslim man wishing to register his third marriage while observing that a male member from the community can register more than one wedding as their personal law entitles them to have four wives at a time, a lawyer said on Tuesday. A bench of Justices BP Colabawalla and Somasekhar Sundaresan was hearing a petition by a man seeking to register his third marriage to a woman from Algeria. While allowing the petition, the court directed the office of the deputy marriage registrar of the Thane Municipal Corporation to decide the application filed in February 2023. The couple filed a petition in the high court seeking direction to the authorities to register their marriage, claiming that their application was rejected as this was the man's third marriage. The court termed the refusal as “wholly misconceived” and observed that under the personal laws for Muslims, they are entitled to have four wives at a time. "As this is the case, we are unable to accept the submission of the authorities that under the provisions of the Maharashtra Regulation of Marriage Bureaus and Registration of Marriages Act, only one marriage can be registered, even in the case of a Muslim male," the judges said in their order. The bench directed the authority concerned of the Thane civic body to give a personal hearing to the couple and pass a reasoned order either granting marriage registration or refusing the same within ten days. If denied, the matter will be referred to the Registrar General under the Act for further review and hearing. In the meantime, the bench has restrained the Bureau of Immigration and Foreigners Regional registration Office from taking any coercive steps against the woman as her passport expired in May...////...