Allahabad High Court rules Shariat cannot override child marriage laws, says puberty not legal age
The Allahabad High Court has ruled that Shariat law, which permits marriage after a girl reaches puberty, cannot override the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). These laws set the minimum age of marriage for girls at 18 years.
In its July 1 order, a division bench of Justices J J Munir and Achal Sachdev stated: “The Shariat Law providing for puberty as the competent age…for a girl to marry or be married runs clearly in the teeth of the PCMA as well as the POCSO Act.”
The court was hearing a petition filed by 19 individuals seeking to quash an FIR lodged against them. The FIR was registered after they allegedly attempted to conduct the marriage of a 16-year-old girl under Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) and assaulted police officers and members of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) during the girl’s rescue.
The bench dismissed the petition, holding that the allegations disclosed cognisable offences requiring investigation. It also upheld the intervention by police and Childline to stop the child marriage, vacated the interim stay on investigation, and directed that its order be communicated to the police authorities.
The court noted that the age of marriage for every citizen, irrespective of religion, is specified under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006. It held that if a person below 18 years is married, physical relations within such a union would violate the POCSO Act.
The bench pointed out that both PCMA and POCSO are based on public health and national policies, have a scientific basis, and cannot be excluded for any community.
Background of the case
On February 15 this year, police officers and a Childline team reached the girl’s house after receiving information that a 16-year-old Muslim girl was about to be married. They aimed to stop the wedding and produce her before the CWC. However, the girl’s family and other villagers abused, threatened, and assaulted the officials, forcibly taking the girl away from Childline’s custody.
An FIR was registered against 19 named individuals and around 50 unidentified persons for obstructing public servants and other offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The accused approached the High Court to quash the FIR, arguing that under Muslim Personal Law, a girl who has attained puberty can legally marry.
Advocate Pooja, appearing for the petitioners, submitted that under Shariat, a girl who attains puberty—generally regarded as 15 years—is competent to marry. She argued that PCMA would not affect Muslim Personal Law and cited the Majority Act, 1875, which fixes the age of majority at 18 but does not apply to laws relating to marriage, divorce, and adoption.
Court’s reasoning
The court observed that while the Majority Act does not fix 18 as the marriageable age, that argument is no longer relevant because PCMA and POCSO were enacted later. These newer laws clearly prohibit child marriage and sexual relations with anyone below 18 years, overriding any other provision.
The court clarified that a marriage performed in violation of PCMA may be voidable, not void, but the act of performing such a marriage is punishable. Offences under PCMA are cognisable and non-bailable.
The high court also noted that the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which proposed raising the legal age of marriage for women to 21, has lapsed.
This ruling reinforces the primacy of statutory child protection laws over personal laws, ensuring that all citizens are subject to uniform age standards for marriage.
