Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for Centre told the top court today that different high courts across the country are passing different orders on allowing child marriages based on religion. The case pertains to Punjab High Court's order which held that a Muslim girl aged 15 years can enter into a legal and valid marriage as per personal law.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will list the matter concerning child marriages in India by next week.
SG Mehta appealed that the matter needs to be resolved soon as different High Courts are giving different judgements and special leave petitions against these high court orders are piling up.
National Commission for Protection for Child Rights (NCPCR) has moved the top court against the Punjab and Haryana High Court order which held that Muslim girls become legally competent to marry after attaining puberty at the age of 15 years under the Muslim personal law.
The apex court had agreed to examine the child rights body’s legal argument that a personal law or a religious right cannot override the mandate of the criminal laws of the land that aim at protecting the girl child.
The Supreme Court had also restrained all other courts in the country from treating the Punjab high court order as precedent.
In the concerned case, the Punjab and Haryana high court granted protection to two Muslim couples, where both the girls were minors but above the age of 15 years and had they married against the wishes of their parents. In both the cases, the girls’ were sixteen years old and the grooms were aged 23 and 29 years.
The parents moved the high court challenging the validity of the marriages. The high court however, dismissed petitions from the parents in both the cases and handed over custody to their husbands.