Assam CM tables polygamy ban bill; Mehta and Tewary commission reports circulated in Assembly

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on November 25 tabled the Assam Prohibition of Polygamy Bill, 2025 in the state Assembly, marking a significant step toward outlawing the practice in the state. 

The bill was introduced with the permission of Speaker Biswajit Daimary on the first day of the Winter Session.

The introduction took place in the absence of MLAs from the Congress, CPI(M) and Raijor Dal, who walked out of the House shortly before the bill was presented. The Opposition members left after a discussion on the death of singer Zubeen Garg. The bill will be taken up for discussion and passage on a later date.

In another key development, Sarma also laid the report of the Justice (retd) T.U. Mehta Commission, which examined the large-scale violence that accompanied the 1983 Assembly elections. 

The Mehta Commission was constituted by Mukti Jujaru Sanmilan and agitators of the Assam Movement to probe incidents that occurred at the height of the anti-influx agitation from 1979 to 1985. 

Also Read: "It is a case of murder from very first": Himanta Biswa Sarma on Zubeen's death case

The period saw some of the worst instances of violence in Assam’s history, including the Nellie massacre of February 1983, in which over 2,100 people were killed in a single night. 

No discussion was held on the report after it was placed in the House.

The government also circulated printed copies of the Tewary Commission report, which investigated the 1983 disturbances and the Nellie massacre. The Commission, headed by retired IAS officer T.P. Tewary, was set up on July 14, 1983, and submitted its final report to the Congress government in May 1984. The AGP government subsequently tabled it in the Assembly in 1987.

Chief Minister Sarma had earlier said that despite being tabled decades ago, copies of the report had not been made accessible to MLAs, with only a single copy available with the Speaker. 

A recent Cabinet decision of the BJP-led government directed that both hard and digital copies be distributed during the Winter Session to ensure wider access. As stated by Sarma, the House will not hold a discussion on the Tewary Commission report.

The opening day of the Winter Session thus saw the tabling of a major social reform bill as well as the circulation of two important reports documenting one of Assam’s most turbulent chapters.