The Lahore High Court (LHC) has invalidated a section of the Child Marriage Act, 1929, which established gender-based age distinctions for marriage eligibility, and directed the Punjab government to revise the law. This decision by Justice Shahid Karim on Monday deemed the specified portions of the Act, Sections 2(a) and (b), as discriminatory for setting different ages of marriage eligibility for males and females at 18 and 16 years, respectively.
It’s worth noting that the aforementioned law had been superseded by the Punjab Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Act, 2015, aimed at criminalizing child marriage in the province. The court emphasized the need for effective measures against child marriages, asserting that marriage laws should primarily consider social, economic, and educational factors rather than solely religious ones.
Highlighting the principle of equality before the law, the court condemned any form of discrimination based on gender. It found the distinction in age criteria for marriage eligibility between genders as unconstitutional and ordered the provincial government to amend the Act within 15 days to comply with the court’s decision.
The court’s verdict came in response to a petition seeking amendments to the Child Marriage Act, 1929, citing gender-based distinctions that contradicted constitutional principles of gender equality.
Additionally, the provincial advocate general presented facts regarding the adverse effects of child marriages on society, including depriving children of their right to education, increasing maternal mortality among young mothers, and perpetuating cycles of poverty and malnutrition across generations.
