President Murmu approves Haryana law deeming child marriages void
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President Droupadi Murmu has approved the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Haryana Amendment) Bill, 2020 which considers child marriages void. It means marriages involving minors will have no legal effect from inception.
The Supreme Court had declared the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 a special law that prevails over IPC 1860 and sex with a minor wife aged between 15 and 18 years in accordance with the prevailing exception 2 of section 375 of the IPC, is arbitrary and violative of the Constitution.
The top court also invalidated the existing exception 2 of section 375 of the IPC under which sexual intercourse between a man and his wife aged between 15 and 18 years does not amount to the offence of rape. According to the provisions of section 6 of the POCSO Act, this falls within the definition of rape.
Following this, the court observed that each state legislature should adopt a route to make child marriages void. This will ensure that sex between a minor girl and her husband is punishable under POCSO Act and the IPC.
President Droupadi Murmu has also given her assent to the Registration (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Bill, 2021 to further amend the Registration Act, 1908. This is to prevent the registration of forged documents and impersonation.
According to this, the registrar can issue a show-cause notice asking why a registration shall not be cancelled. As per the reply received, they may cancel the registration and enter it in the relevant books and indices. The Bill also has another provision that allows anyone to file an appeal within 30 days of cancellation.