Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on Tuesday requested the Supreme Court to hear on an urgent basis, a petition filed by the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) challenging an order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which permitted a Muslim girl to enter into a valid marriage upon attaining puberty.
Appearing before a Bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, the SG contended that the matter pertained to child marriage. He said different views have been taken by the High Courts, with new judgments coming and SLPs multiplying.
The SG sought listing of the matter on a priority basis, either on Wednesday or Thursday.
Earlier in January 2024, the Apex Court had issued notice in the said plea after the CJI-led Bench was informed by SG Mehta that the personal laws were being claimed as a defence to commit criminal acts in way of young girls being married off.
SG Mehta had then also prayed for a stay. However, the top court of the country observed that if it ordered a stay, then the girl married to her maternal uncle, would have to go back to her parents and she did not want to.
The Court appointed Senior Advocate Rajshekar Rao to assist the court in the matter as he was the Amicus in a similar case.
The Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by NCPCR challenged the High Court verdict on the grounds of violation of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act and the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
Filed through Advocate Swarupama Chaturvedi, the SLP stated that such laws were secular in nature, therefore, the applicability cannot be hindered on the basis of religion.
The single-judge Bench of Justice Vikas Bahl of the Punjab and Haryana High Court had held that such a marriage would not be void in terms of Section 12 of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006.
The High Court passed the order on a writ petition seeking a 16-year-old Muslim girl’s release from a child custody agency in Panchkula as she wished to reside with her 26-year-old husband, Javed.
The statement of the girl before the Magistrate under Section 164 CrPC formed the basis of the writ.
The minor girls’ counsel, Advocate Uday Chauhan, apprised the High Court that she had run from the house along with the 26-year-old out of her own will as she wished to marry him. The Nikah was performed on July 27, 2022.