Prayagraj: In a significant ruling affirming the supremacy of child protection laws, the Allahabad high court has held that the legal age of marriage applies uniformly to all citizens irrespective of religion and that provisions of Shariat or Muslim personal law recognising puberty as the age of marriage cannot override the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.The observations were made by a division bench of Justice JJ Munir and Justice Achal Sachdev on July 1 while dismissing a petition filed by 19 persons seeking quashing of an FIR registered against them in Bulandshahr for allegedly assaulting and obstructing police and Child Line officials who had intervened to stop the marriage of a 16-year-old Muslim girl.The petitioners argued that under Shariat law applicable to Muslims, a girl is competent to marry on attaining puberty, generally considered to be 15 years of age. They contended that the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, would not affect personal law governing Muslim marriages.Rejecting the argument, the bench held that provisions of Muslim personal law recognising puberty as the age of marriage were clearly inconsistent with the PCMA and the Pocso Act.“The PCM and the Pocso Acts are statutes that are based on public health and national policy in this regard. They have a scientific understanding to them, legislatively translated into prohibitory statutes and there can be no escape from it for anyone,” the court observed.The bench further said that permitting the marriage of a person below 18 years would inevitably create a conflict with the Pocso Act since marital relations are intrinsically linked to the institution of marriage.“If marriage below 18 years is allowed, it would result in an acknowledged violation of the Pocso Act,” the court noted.Acknowledging differing views expressed by various high courts on the issue, the bench said it was in complete agreement with the reasoning adopted by the Kerala high court that no personal law can override statutory prohibitions against child marriage.On the facts of the case, the court found that there had been a determined attempt by the minor girl’s parents and community members to solemnise her marriage in violation of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act. It commended the police and Child Line team for intervening to prevent a possible offence under the Pocso Act.The court noted that the rescue team was acting in the bona fide discharge of its duties when it faced resistance from the accused persons. Referring to the allegations in the FIR, the bench observed that the officials were abused, threatened and forced to protect themselves from the aggression of the petitioners.“The victim was forcibly taken away from their care and custody till she was finally rescued. This is certainly a case where obstruction in the performance of duties of a government servant is prima facie made out. The other offences disclosed also require thorough investigation,” the court said.Refusing to interfere with the criminal proceedings at this stage, the high court dismissed the plea and allowed the investigation to continue.
