Today, On 6th August, The Supreme Court of India agreed to hear a plea from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) concerning whether Muslim girls can legally marry upon attaining puberty. This issue arose following a Punjab and Haryana High Court decision which allowed a 16-year-old Muslim girl to marry after reaching puberty, based on Muslim personal law.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court agreed to expedite the hearing on whether Muslim personal law permitting child marriages supersedes the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.
Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta, emphasized the urgency of resolving the matter due to conflicting rulings from various High Courts.
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A bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra indicated that the issue would be scheduled for an early hearing, stating,
“We have to settle the matter at once.”
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) challenged a ruling by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which declared that a Muslim girl, upon reaching puberty, is legally capable of marrying a person of her choice under Muslim Personal Law. In response, the Supreme Court has issued notices to the respondents based on the NCPCR‘s plea.
The Supreme Court directed that the Punjab and Haryana High Court‘s ruling, which allowed a 15-year-old Muslim girl to enter into a valid marriage under personal law, should not be used as a precedent in other cases.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that Muslim girls as young as 14, 15, and 16 are getting married. Previously, the National Commission for Women (NCW) requested the Supreme Court to align the minimum marriage age for Muslim girls with the national standard of 18 for women and 21 for men. The current law presumes the minimum marriage age for Muslim girls to be 15, based on puberty.
The NCW claimed that allowing marriages at puberty is arbitrary, irrational, discriminatory, and violates penal laws.
They highlighted that the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act does not allow minors under 18 to consent to sex. The NCW’s public interest litigation aimed to align Islamic personal law with national penal laws to protect the fundamental rights of minor Muslim women.
In its ruling last June, the High Court referred to Muslim Personal Law, declaring that a 15-year-old Muslim girl could legally marry. The NCPCR challenged this, seeking to enforce statutory laws like the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA) 2006 and the POCSO Act, which protect children under 18.
The NCPCR argued that the High Court‘s decision violated the PCMA, a secular law applicable to all, and reiterated that under POCSO, no child under 18 can give valid consent.