New Bill before Parliament for raising girls’ marriage age
New Bill before Parliament for raising girls’ marriage age
New Delhi, Dec. 21 (Delhi Crown): A new Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on Tuesday to raise the marriageable age of girls from 18 to 21 years across all religions.
The Bill, moved by Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani, seeks to uniformly raise the age of marriage by way of a single provision by amending the “Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006” and reinforces its application overriding all other existing laws, customs, and practices governing marriage in India.
In Section 1 of the Act, the Bill inserts the following words – “Notwithstanding anything contrary or inconsistent therewith contained in the Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872; the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936; the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937; the Special Marriage Act, 1954; the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955; and the Foreign Marriage Act, 1969, or any other custom or usage or practice in relation to marriage, under any other law for the time being in force.”
The Minister said that the Bill will amend the provisions of the Indian Christian Marriage Act 1872, the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act 1936, Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act 1937, Special Marriage Act 1954, Hindu Marriage Act 1955, Foreign Marriage Act 1969 in relation to the age of parties to the marriage.
By way of this amendment, the Child Marriage (Prohibition) Act would have an overriding effect over other laws, customs, and usages governing citizens in India.
