No Personal Law Can Override Child Marriage Ban: Allahabad HC
Court Says Sharia-Based Child Marriages Violate POCSO Act and Child Marriage Law
GG News Bureau
Prayagraj, 8th July: The Allahabad High Court has ruled that the prohibition on child marriage applies equally to all religions in India, holding that no personal law, including Muslim personal law, can override the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 or the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
A division bench of Justices J.J. Munir and Achal Sachdeva observed that the Shariat principle permitting the marriage of Muslim girls after attaining puberty is contrary to the provisions of the Child Marriage Act and the POCSO Act. The court said the statutory marriageable age is binding on every citizen, irrespective of religion.
“The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act and the POCSO Act are laws based on public health and national policy. No one can escape them,” the bench observed.
The ruling came while hearing a petition filed by 19 people seeking to quash an FIR registered after police intervened to stop the marriage of a 16-year-old Muslim girl in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr in February. The petitioners argued that under Sharia law, a girl becomes eligible for marriage after attaining puberty and that the Child Marriage Act does not override Muslim personal law.
Rejecting the plea, the High Court held that no personal law can bypass the statutory prohibition on child marriage or the legal consequences under the POCSO Act. It observed that permitting marriage below the age of 18 would also violate the POCSO Act, as marriage and sexual relations are intrinsically connected.
The court also referred to the Kerala High Court’s view on the issue and said it fully agreed that personal laws cannot supersede the statutory ban on child marriage. It declined to quash the FIR, noting that the police rescue team had been obstructed, threatened and the minor was taken away before being rescued.
The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, prohibits marriage below 18 years for girls and 21 years for boys. The law prescribes imprisonment of up to two years and a fine of up to ₹1 lakh for those involved in conducting or facilitating child marriages.
