Allow minor girl to stay with husband: Govt to HC

20 Feb 2009, 0100 hrs IST, Abhinav Garg, TNN NEW DELHI: Taking a stand contrary to the Prevention of Child Marriage Act (PCMA) 2006, the Centre has claimed before the Delhi High Court that a minor girl should be allowed to stay with her husband even in a case of underage marriage. In its arguments, the government hails the boy who figures in one of the cases of minor elopement being examined by HC. Facing rape and kidnapping charges, the boy, who allegedly eloped with the underage girl, is defended as someone who "acted only as a hero and as a saviour of the girl who had placed her trust in him''. The submission comes in response to a tongue-lashing the government received earlier by a three-judge bench comprising Justice Vikramjeet Sen, Justice V K Shaly and Justice Sanjeev Khanna for two contradictory laws on child marriage. The court that will take up these arguments on Friday is grappling with a petition filed by Mahadev, the father of underage girl Anamika (name changed), along with a batch of cases to determine whether a marriage between underage persons can be considered valid. HC's mandate is also to adjudicate if the custody of a girl could be given to the husband in such a marriage and whether the kidnapping and rape charges could be quashed. Anamika is an underage pregnant teen due to give birth on February 27. She got married to a minor boy and wishes to remain with him even as he faces rape charges and languishes in jail. In its submission before HC, the government claims PCMA on its own doesn't make an underage union invalid and leaves it to the courts to declare so after "establishing circumstances in a criminal trial''. "The Victorian manner of looking upon the woman as a chattel has no place in modern times. So the view of legislature that custody of a girl can be given to someone whom the law thinks is good for her is no longer valid. The girl is well within her rights to refuse to go back to her parents,'' the government argues. Last month, a TOI report had highlighted the plight of Anamika as her case got entangled between conflicting provisions of law. The matter came up seven times before a three-judge bench and thrice before a two-judge bench. abhinav.garg@timesgroup.com

"Loved reading this piece by ARVIND JAIN?
Join LAWyersClubIndia's network for daily News Updates, Judgment Summaries, Articles, Forum Threads, Online Law Courses, and MUCH MORE!!"

Join our Telegram group

Join our Whatsapp group