PRAYAGRAJ, May 16 -- The Allahabad high court has observed that though Islam permits more than one marriage under certain circumstances and with certain conditions, this permission is being "widely misused" even against the mandate of Muslim law.

With this observation, Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal said that polygamy was conditionally permitted under the Quran during early Islamic times to protect widows and orphans after heavy wartime casualties, however, the provision is now being misused by men for "selfish purposes".

For the above observations, the court also relied on the suggestion given by the Supreme Court in the cases of Sarla Mudgal and Lily Thomas regarding the enactment of the Uniform Civil Code in pursuance of the mandat...