The Supreme Court has agreed to an early hearing on the issue of whether Muslim personal law allowing child marriages will prevail over the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act,2006.
As the matter could not be taken up today for the hearing, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta requested that the matter be heard and resolved at the earliest, as the different High Courts are giving contrary judgments. A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said it will list the matter soon. “We have to settle the matter at once,” it added.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had approached the apex court challenging an order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court which said a Muslim girl after attaining puberty is competent to enter into a contract of marriage with a person of her choice under the Muslim Personal Law.
It had issued notices to the respondents in the case on the plea of NCPCR. The top court had directed that the order of the High Court, which held that a Muslim girl aged 15 years can enter into a legal and valid marriage as per personal law, should not be relied on as a precedent in any other case.
The Solicitor General had contended that Muslim girls who are 14, 15, and 16 years old are getting married. Earlier, the National Commission for Women (NCW) had approached the top court to make the minimum age of marriage for Muslims girls the same as that of persons belonging to other religions.
The minimum age for marriage in India is currently 18 for women and 21 for men. However, the minimum marriage age for Muslim women is when they attain puberty and 15 years is presumed to be that age.
The NCW had said that allowing Muslims to marry at the age of puberty (around 15) is arbitrary, irrational, discriminatory, and violates penal laws.
The plea had said even the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) does not provide for those under 18 to consent for sex. It had said the PIL was filed for enforcement of the fundamental rights of minor Muslim women to bring Islamic personal law in consonance with the penal laws applicable to other religions.
The High Court in June last year in its order had cited the provisions of the Muslim Personal Law on marriage to rule that a 15-year-old Muslim girl was competent to enter into a contract of marriage with a person of her choice.
The NCPCR sought to ensure the proper implementation of statutory laws that are specifically in place to protect children below the age of 18 years.
The Commission highlighted the provisions of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA) 2006 and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) to put forth its reasons for challenging the High Court ruling.
NCPCR had said the order was violative of PCMA which, the petition said, is a secular law that is applicable to all. It further said that the provisions of POCSO say no child below the age of 18 years can give valid consent.
(with inputs from ANI)
