Uniform minimum age of marriage for men and women in India? Supreme Court to decide

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court early this month transferred the main proceedings pertaining to uniform minimum age of marriage for men and women in diverse legislations.

The bench of Justice Satish Chander Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad directed its registry to transfer the case and related documents immediately to the Supreme Court.
Delhi High Court on Wednesday will hear the public interest litigation (PIB) seeking to equalise the legal age of marriage for men and women, saying the limit of 18 years for a woman and 21 for a man amounts to discrimination.

The plea before Delhi High Court earlier stated that at present men in India are allowed to get married at the age of 21, women are allowed at 18. It was mentioned that more than 125 countries in the world have a uniform age of marriage.

Delhi's BJP lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay has filed the PIL under Article 226. He contends that the discriminatory “minimum age” limit for marriage is based on patriarchal stereotypes, with no scientific backing, and perpetrates de jure and de facto inequality against women.

Some of the statutory provisions, which are responsible for discriminatory minimum age limit for marriage, include Section 60(1) of the Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872; Section 3(1)c\(c of the Parsi Marriage and divorce Act, 1936, Section 4(c) of the Special Marriage Act 1954, Section 5(iii) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and Section 2(a) of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.

The plea stated that the differential bar discriminates against women and contravenes with the fundamental principles of gender equality, gender justice and dignity of women and breaches Article 14, 15 and 21. The petitioner stresses that women have the fundamental right to be free to pursue studies or occupations after finishing school at the age of 18.

“It is a social reality that women are expected, rather often pressurised, to beget children immediately after marriage and also forced to take up household chores in accordance with their stereotypical roles in the family, which harms their educational and economic pursuits and often impinges on reproductive autonomy s well,” the plea added.