Prohibition of Child Marriage Act cannot be undermined by personal law practices: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Friday said the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act cannot be undermined by personal law practices, it reported The times of India.

Personal laws in India are a set of laws that govern individuals in matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption and guardianship. They are based on religious scriptures. Only Goa and Uttarakhand do not follow personal laws for such matters, relying instead on a Uniform Civil Code.

The court also told Parliament to consider banning child betrothals, which “have the effect of violating free choice, autonomy, agency and childhood,” it reported. Living Law.

The bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra was delivering judgment on a plea by the Society for Enlightenment and Voluntary Action seeking effective implementation of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, enacted to eradicate the practice of child marriage. The legislation replaced the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929.

“These marriages violate the free will of minors to choose life,” the court said.

The bench said it had “analyzed the entire gamut of laws on prevention of child marriage” and issued several directions to “achieve the entire purpose of the law”.

The court’s guidelines include: “The preventive strategy must be adapted to different communities, and the law will only be successful when there is multi-sectoral coordination. It is necessary that there is training and qualification of agents responsible for applying the law. We emphasize that there needs to be a community-oriented approach.”

However, since the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act does not address the practice of “marriages fixed on the minority of a child”, the Supreme Court urged Parliament to consider amending the law.

“Parliament may consider banning child betrothal, which can be used to avoid penalties under the PCMA,” the court said. “Although a pledged child may be a child in need of care and protection under the Juvenile Justice Act, practice requires specific solutions for their disposal.”