[..2 B..]
CUSTOMARY PRACTICES AND STATE REGULATION
- B) CHILD MARRIAGE[1]
QUESTION BANK
- 1. Explain the provisions of the Child Marriage Act to curb the practice of child
marriage.
SHORT NOTES
- Child Marriage.
- Definition of ‘child’ and .child marriage’ under Child Marriage Restraint Act.
SYNOPSIS
I] Introduction
II] Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929
- A) Who is a child?
- B) What is child marriage?
- C) Punishment under the Act.
1) Male adult below 21 years of age (S. 3)
2) Male Adult above 21 years of age (S. 4)
3) Solemnizing child marriage (S. 50)
4) Concerned Parent or Guardian in Child Marriage (S. 6)
III] Power of Court to issue an injunction
IV] Child Marriage Prevention Officer (S. 13)
I] INTRODUCTION:-
Child marriage was another vital problem before India; even though the legislature has made several enactments, it is still practised. Child marriage is a root cause[2] of several problems. It is a root cause of illiteracy, poverty, low health, population, poor standard of living[3], deaths in the delivery of children and mothers, low health of the new generation, etc. Moreover, a child marriage ruins[4] the lives of innocent children. This custom has existed in India since ancient times and is still followed in many parts of India.
However, the Indian Legislature passed the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929[5]and amended the same again in 1978. These acts make punishable the performance of child marriage.
In Hanumanthappa S/o Mriyappa v. The State of Karnataka
[Laws (Kar) 2021-10-54]
The Karnataka High Court denied bail to a person who is 32 years of age and had married forcefully to a girl of 14 years.
We will study some of the provisions of this Act.
II] CHILD MARRIAGE RESTRAINT ACT, 1929
A) Who is a child?
- 2 (a) of the Act defines “Child” as “means a person who, if a male, has not completed twenty-one years of age, and if a female, has not completed eighteen years of age”.
Thus, for the performance of marriage, the age of a boy should not be below 21 years and a girl below 18 years. Though this provision is general, the age of majority for Muslim people is the age of puberty[6]. Generally, the age of puberty is between nine to fifteen. Even a minor, i.e. who has not attained puberty, can be given in marriage by their respective parents or guardians. It seems that the law excludes Muslims from its tenet[7]and applies to the rest, i.e. Hindus, Christians, Parsi, etc.
B) What is Child Marriage?
The Act defines child marriage as “a marriage to which either of the contracting parties is a child.”
C) Punishments under the Act.
The Act provides punishment for performing child marriage and allied offences.
1) Male adult below 21 years of age (S.3):-
Whoever, being a male above 18 years of age and below 21 years, contracts a marriage with a child is punishable with simple imprisonment for fifteen days or a fine up to Rs.-1000/- or with both.
2) Male adult above 21 years of age (S. 4):-
Whoever, being a male above 21 years of age, contracts a child marriage shall be punishable with simple imprisonment, which may extend to 3 months and shall also be liable to a fine.
3) Solemnizing child marriage (S. 5):-
Whoever performs, conducts or directs any child marriage shall be punishable with simple imprisonment, which may extend to 3 months and shall also be liable to a fine. But he is not so punished under this section if it is proved to him that he had reason to believe the marriage was not a child marriage.
4) Concerned Parent or Guardian in child marriage (S. 6):-
Where a minor contracts a child marriage, any person having a charge of the minor, whether a parent or guardian or in any other capacity, lawful or unlawful, who does any act to promote the marriage or permit it to be solemnized or negligently fails to prevent it from being solemnized, shall be punishable with simple imprisonment for three months and also be liable to fine. However, under this section, no women can be punished.
III] POWER OF COURT TO ISSUE INJUNCTION[8]:-
The court may, if satisfied with the information laid before it through a complainant or otherwise, that the child marriage is about to be solemnized, issue an injunction against any of the persons mentioned in the above sections to stop such marriage.
IV] CHILD MARRIAGE PREVENTION OFFICER (S. 13):-
The State Government may appoint a Child Marriage Prevention Officer for the whole State.
His Duties:-
He has to perform the following duties. Viz.
- i) To prevent child marriage from being performed
- ii) To collect evidence for the effective prosecution[9] of persons contravening[10] this Act.
iii) To discharge such functions as may be assigned[11] by the State Government.
In conclusion, though the law is passed prohibiting child marriages, it will be ineffective[12] without public cooperation.
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[1] बालविवाह [बाल-विवाह]
[2] मूळ कारण [मूल कारण]
[3] निरक्षरता, गरिबी, अनारोग्य, लोकसंख्या, दर्जाहीन राहणीमान [जीवन स्तर खराब]
[4] नाष करणे [बर्बाद]
[5] बाल विवाह प्रतिबंधक कायदा [बाल विवाह निरोध अधिनियम, 1929]
[6] तारुण्य [यौवन]
[7] तत्व [सिद्धांत]
[8] स्थगिती [निषेधाज्ञा]
[9] खटला चालविणे [अभियोग पक्ष]
[10] भंग करणे [उल्लंघन]
[11] नेमून दिलेले [सौंपा गया]
[12] प्रभावहिन [अप्रभावी]