Kerala High Court On Ban On Child Marriage: The Kerala High Court has ruled that the Child Marriage Prohibition Act, 2006 applies to every citizen of this country, irrespective of the religion he or she belongs to. The court said that every Indian is first a citizen and then becomes a member of a religion.
Justice P V Kunhikrishnan, in a recent order on a petition to quash a case filed in Palakkad in 2012 against child marriage, said that the Act applies to all irrespective of the religion of the person, be it Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Parsi etc. The petitioners argued before the court that being a Muslim, the girl has the religious right to marry at the age of 15. These petitioners also included the father of the girl, who was a minor at the time.
‘Citizen first, then religion’
In its order dated July 15, the court said, “A person should first be a citizen of India, then comes his religion. Religion is secondary and citizenship should come first. Therefore, I believe that whatever religion a person belongs to, whether he is Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Parsi etc., the Act 2006 applies to all.” The court also said that the complaint against child marriage was filed by a person from the Muslim community.
Kerala High Court dismissed the case
In fact, the prosecution alleged that the first accused married his minor daughter to the second accused according to the religious principles and customs of Islam. Accused three and four are the president and secretary of Hidayatul Islam Juma Masjid Mahal Committee. The case has been registered on the basis of a complaint by a person belonging to the Muslim community.
However, the court dismissed the case. The court also said that print and visual media should be the platform to raise voice against child marriage.
read this also: There has been an 81% decrease in child marriage in this state, claims the report
