SC dismisses NCPCR's plea challenging reduced marriage age for Muslim girls

New Delhi, Aug 19 The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea filed by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) challenging the position that a minor Muslim girl can marry a person of her choice after attaining puberty.

A bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and R. Mahadevan questioned the locus standi of the child rights body in filing the special leave petition (SLP) against the Punjab and Haryana High Court order that had held that a Muslim girl can marry a person of her choice after attaining the age of 15.

The counsel representing the NCPCR argued that the SLP raised a question of law whether a minor Muslim girl can enter into a valid marriage on the basis of personal law.

However, the apex court rejected the child rights body’s plea, observing that the impugned order sought to extend protection to the two individuals and the NCPCR had no locus standi to challenge such an order.

Dismissing the plea, the Justice Nagarathna-led Bench said it would not keep open the question of whether the age of marriage for a Muslim girl under the personal law conflicted with other laws of the land, including the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

"If the High Court, in exercise of its power under Article 226, seeks to extend protection to two individuals, the NCPCR has no locus standi to challenge such an order," it observed.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had issued notice to the government and others on the NCPCR’s plea to decide upon the question of law, clarifying that its decision not to stay the impugned order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court may not be used as precedent.

It had opined that if the P&H High Court judgment -- which held that a Muslim girl aged 15 years can enter into a legal and valid marriage as per personal law -- was stayed, the girl might be restored to her parents against her wishes.

The plea filed by the NCPCR said the Punjab and Haryana High Court erred in ignoring the fact that sexual intercourse with a minor girl below the age of 18 years is sexual assault as per the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and this legal position cannot be changed due to marital status of the child and that whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case and in law.

In August last year, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta stated that diverse views were being taken by different HCs across the country, resulting in the filing of multiple special leave petitions before the apex court on the same issue and pleaded for an urgent adjudication.

The P&H High Court order came on a habeas corpus petition filed by a 26-year-old man against the detention of his 16-year-old wife in a children's home in Panchkula. It had noted that such a marriage would not be void in terms of Section 12 of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006.

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