Going against Indian constitution? Delhi HC says Muslim minor girl can marry without parents' consent after attaining puberty
Justice Jasmeet Singh pronounced this verdict while granting protection to a Muslim couple who married in March 2022 according to Islamic rites and rituals. The court further observed that the minor Muslim girl can also reside with her husband even when she is less than 18 years of age.
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New Delhi, August 24: Pronouncing another gem verdict in the history of the Indian judiciary, the Delhi High Court has said that a girl, who has attained puberty, can marry without the consent of her parents under Muslim laws. It further said provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) act would not apply to the husband.
Justice Jasmeet Singh pronounced this verdict while granting protection to a Muslim couple who married in March 2022 according to Islamic rites and rituals. The court further observed that the minor Muslim girl can also reside with her husband even when she is less than 18 years of age.
Delhi HC’s single bench of Justice Jasmeet Singh made the observation while granting protection to a Muslim couple who married in March 2022 according to Islamic rites and rituals.
According to the parents, their daughter was 15 years old while the man was 25 years when they got married. The parents of the girl, on March 5, registered a case in Dwarka district under sections 376 of the Indian Penal Code and section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act alleging that the minor was kidnapped. The couple had moved to High Court in April seeking police protection and a direction that nobody separate them from each other.
During the hearing, her counsel produced her Aadhaar Card which showed that she is over 19 years old. However, the counsel for the girl told the court that she is pregnant and had eloped with the man out of her own free will and consent.
The girl informed the court that she was regularly beaten by her parents and they forcibly tried to marry her to someone else. The police recovered the girl from the custody of the man on April 27. She was produced before the child welfare committee (CWC).
The court also directed the police to ensure the protection of the couple. Granting protection to the couple, the Court observed: “It is thus clear that as per Mohammedan Law girl who had attained the age of puberty could marry without the consent of her parents and had the right to reside with her husband even when she was less than 18 years of age and thus otherwise minor girl.”
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