Task force on Age of Marriage for Women "EMPOWER IAS"

In news:

The task force set up to take a re-look at the age of marriage for women has submitted its report to the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

What is the issue?

PM in his I-Day speech last year spoke about a panel formed to decide on the “right age of marriage” for women.
The minimum age of marriage, especially for women, has been a contentious issue.
The law evolved in the face of much resistance from religious and social conservatives.
Currently, the law prescribes that the minimum age of marriage is 21 years and 18 years for men and women respectively.

Invoking ‘Majority’

The minimum age of marriage is distinct from the age of majority which is gender-neutral.
An individual attains the age of majority at 18 as per the Indian Majority Act, 1875.
The law prescribes a minimum age of marriage to essentially outlaw child marriages and prevents the abuse of minors.

About the Committee

The Union Ministry for WCD had set up a task force to examine matters pertaining to the age of motherhood, imperatives of lowering Maternal Mortality Ratio and the improvement of nutritional levels among women.
The task force would examine the correlation of age of marriage and motherhood with health, medical well-being, and nutritional status of the mother and neonate, infant or child, during pregnancy, birth and thereafter.
It will also examine the possibility of increasing the age of marriage for women from the present 18 years to 21 years.

How common are child marriages in India?

UNICEF estimates suggest that each year, at least 1.5 million girls under the age of 18 are married in India.
It makes our country home to the largest number of child brides in the world — accounting for a third of the global total.

Provisions for the minimum age for marriage

Personal laws of various religions that deal with marriage have their own standards, often reflecting custom.
For Hindus, Section 5(iii) of The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, sets 18 years as the minimum age for the bride and 21 years as the minimum age for the groom.
However, child marriages are not illegal — even though they can be declared void at the request of the minor in the marriage.
In Islam, the marriage of a minor who has attained puberty is considered valid.
The Special Marriage Act, 1954 and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 also prescribe 18 and 21 years as the minimum age of consent for marriage for women and men respectively.
Additionally, sexual intercourse with a minor is rape, and the ‘consent’ of a minor is regarded as invalid since she is deemed incapable of giving consent at that age.

The Sarda Act

In 1929, The Child Marriage Restraint Act set 16 and 18 years as the minimum age of marriage for girls and boys respectively.
The law, popularly known as the Sarda Act after its sponsor Harbilas Sarda, a judge and a member of Arya Samaj, was eventually amended in 1978 to prescribe 18 and 21 years as the age of marriage for a woman and a man respectively.

Upholding the Constitution

Petitioners, in this case, had challenged the law on the grounds of discrimination.
It is argued that Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, which guarantee the right to equality and the right to live with dignity, were violated by having different legal ages for men and women to marry.
Two significant Supreme Court rulings can act as precedents to support the petitioner’s claim.
In 2014, in the ‘NALSA v Union of India’ case, the Supreme Court, while recognising transgenders as the third gender, said that justice is delivered with the “assumption that humans have equal value and should, therefore, be treated as equal, as well as by equal laws”.
In 2019, in ‘Joseph Shine v Union of India’, the Supreme Court decriminalized adultery, and said that “a law that treats women differently based on gender stereotypes is an affront to women’s dignity”.

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