SC dismisses Child Rights body’s plea to annul 16-year-old Muslim girl’s marriage

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) argued before the Supreme Court that a Muslim minor cannot enter into a valid marriage merely because personal law permits it, but the court held that the child rights body had no locus standi to question the Punjab and Haryana High Court order and dismissed its appeal.

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan observed that the Commission could not claim to be aggrieved by a judgment in which the high court had granted protection to a young Muslim couple, and the bench underlined that no substantial question of law arose in the present case.

The court explained that such issues could only be raised in appropriate proceedings and reaffirmed that Article 226 empowered the high court to safeguard individual rights, The Indian Express reported.

The high court order, passed on 13 June, had dealt with a petition by a Pathankot-based couple in which the girl was 16 years old, and the petitioners had sought protection from threats to their life and liberty after marrying against family wishes.

The high court had clarified that it was not ruling on the validity of the marriage but was addressing the apprehension of danger faced by the petitioners, and it had directed the senior superintendent of police in Pathankot to act on their representation.

In the Supreme Court, Justice Nagarathna stressed the importance of differentiating between consensual relationships among teenagers and criminal cases, noting that the Pocso Act already addressed penal matters, whereas romantic relationships had to be viewed distinctly.

The bench also noted the trauma that could result if consensual cases were pursued under criminal law, and it emphasised that constitutional rights to life and liberty could not be denied due to family opposition.