SC to Govt: Clearly define law against child marriage

The National Commission for Women and the Delhi Commission for Women had strongly objected to the Government’s response that the law was adquate enough, and a bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan intends to take up their concerns.

Among the pitfalls pointed out by the two commissions is that different laws define a minor or child differently. This, said advocate Aparna Bhatt, who is appearing for the commissions, comes in the way of dispensing justice, particularly in case of girls below 18 years marrying or eloping with an adult.Another discrepancy is that the IPC does not deem it illegal for a man to have intercourse with his wife and this could be invoked in defence of a man who has married a minor girl.

She said similar concerns had been raised by the Delhi and Andhra Pradesh High Courts, which expressed helpnessness in declaring illegal the marriage of minor girls. Personal law and other laws governing marriage, she said, throw up such anomalies.