Supreme Court refrains from declaring child marriage law to prevail over personal laws

The bench said, 'The issue of the interface of personal laws with the prohibition of child marriage under the PCMA has been a subject of some confusion.'

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday noted certain gaps in the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act but refrained from issuing a direction that the 2006 legislation would prevail over the personal laws in the country, which permitted such matrimonial alliances.

"In light of the constitutional guarantees accruing to children, we observe certain gaps in the Act. Absent a constitutional challenge or a case being argued, we resist from making declarations and restrict ourselves to making suggestions for the scrutiny of the Union," a bench of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said.

The court, however, kept legal question on these issues, open if it were to come before a constitutional court in an appropriate proceeding.

"The issue of the interface of personal laws with the prohibition of child marriage under the PCMA has been a subject of some confusion. The Union government in its note of submission filed after the judgment was reserved in the case has stated that this court may direct that the PCMA prevails over personal law," the bench said.

The court pointed out details of the conflicting opinions were, however, not furnished in the submissions by either party to these proceedings.

"The PCMA states nothing on the validity of the marriage. The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amending) Bill 2021 was introduced in Parliament on December 21, 2021. The Bill was referred for examination to the Department Related Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports. The Bill sought to amend the PCMA to expressly state the overriding effect of the statute over various personal laws. The issue, therefore, is pending consideration before Parliament," the bench said.

In its judgment for effective implementation of the law, the bench formulated guidelines in respect of legal enforcement; judicial measures; community involvement; awareness campaigns; training/capacity building; educational and social support; monitoring and accountability; technology-driven Initiatives for reporting child marriage; and funding and resources.