The National Commission for Women (NCW) requested that the Supreme Court raise the minimum age of marriage for Muslim women. It asked for the marriage age to be the same level as people of other faiths. The court gave the government until Friday to react.
CY Chandrachud, the Chief Justice of the Bench, requested a response from the government within four weeks.
The legal age of marriage for women is 18, while for men it is 21. Marriage at a younger age is regarded as child marriage, which is illegal. According to personal law, the least marriageable age of a Muslim woman is set at 15 years.
The petition demands that Muslim women's marriage age be subject to the law. With this petition, the topic of whether personal law could supersede statutory laws is now prominent.
According to the NCW, allowing the practice would subject Muslim women to harassment and abuse. It claimed that it was arbitrary and discriminatory to permit a Muslim lady to get married before turning 18 years old. The petition claimed that marriage before the age of 18 is illegal under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).
"A person who has attained puberty may be biologically capable of reproduction. However, the same does not imply that the said person is mentally and psychologically mature enough to get married and physically mature to engage in sexual acts and consequently, bear children," the petition said.
