Supreme Court to take a call if minor Muslim girls can get legally married

New Delhi, Dec 10: The Supreme Court will hear a petition filed by the National Commission for Women (NCW), which has asked the government to raise the legal age of marriage for Muslim girls to same number as other religions are following. The petition filed by the NCW urged the court to make the minimum age of marriage for Muslim girls the same as that of persons belonging to other religions. A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha have sought the Centre's response.

The law in India says that the legal age for the marriage of a woman is 18 and in the case of men it is 21. However this does not apply to the Muslim community as they marital laws are different from Hindus. The Muslim Law does not specify the legal marriage age.

A girl can get married after she hits puberty, which is assumed to be 15 for most girls, according to the laws for Muslim marriages. This would mean as per the Muslim law, minor girls can get married to adult males.

Allowing Muslims to marry at the age of puberty is arbitrary, irrational, discriminatory and violative of penal laws, the NCW said. The plea even said that even the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) does not provide for those under 18 to consent to sex.

The NCW urged the Supreme Court to raise the martial age of the Muslim girls to 18 as is the case for the rest of the communities. The Bench of the Supreme Court has sought the response of the Centre on the matter.

The court on an earlier date agreed to examine the plea of the National Commission For Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) against an order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The court had said that a Muslim girl of 15 years is competent to enter into a contract of marriage of a person of her choice under the Muslim Personal Law.