Can Muslim Girls Get Married After Attaining Puberty? NCPCR’s Prayer In Supreme Court

In India, the legal minimum age for marriage is set at 18 for women and 21 for men.

New Delhi: Minor girls in India, i.e., below the age of 18 years, who have attained puberty, meaning they can conceive a child and become mothers are prohibited from getting married by the law of India. However, whenever there is a case pertaining to this very fact that has been filed in the court of law, it gets both “sensitive and controversial” if it is connected to a religion or faith.

One such case is being heard by the Supreme Court which on Tuesday 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.

Solicitor General Requests That Matter Be Heard And Resolved At Earliest

It was noted that the case could not be addressed today. Consequently, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta appealed for the matter to be expedited due to conflicting judgments from various High Courts.

The bench, comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, assured that the case would be scheduled for hearing promptly.

“We have to settle the matter at once,” it added.

NCPCR Approaches SC Challenging Punjab & Haryana HC Order

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) approached the apex court to challenge a ruling by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The High Court had declared that a Muslim girl, upon reaching puberty, is competent to marry a person of her choice according to Muslim Personal Law. The NCPCR’s plea resulted in notices being issued to the respondents.

The apex court ordered that the High Court’s decision, which recognized the legal and valid marriage of a Muslim girl at the age of 15 as per personal law, should not be used as a precedent in other cases.

14, 15, And 16 Years Old Muslim Girls Are Getting Married: SG

The Solicitor General contended that Muslim girls aged 14, 15, and 16 are being married. Previously, the National Commission for Women (NCW) petitioned the apex court to equalize the minimum marriage age for Muslim girls with that of individuals from other religions.

In India, the legal minimum age for marriage is set at 18 for women and 21 for men. However, for Muslim women, the minimum age is determined by the onset of puberty, which is generally presumed to be at 15 years.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) has stated that permitting Muslim women to marry at the age of puberty, approximately 15 years old, is arbitrary, irrational, discriminatory, and contravenes penal laws.

Muslim Personal Law

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.

(With ANI inputs)