SC nixxes NCPCR plea against HC ruling that Muslim girl can marry at puberty

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) challenging a 2022 Punjab and Haryana High Court ruling, which held that a 16-year-old Muslim girl could enter into a valid marriage under Muslim personal law and granted protection to the couple.

- PARMOD KUMAR

A Bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan said the child rights body had no locus to file such an appeal. "NCPCR has no locus to challenge such an order... If two minor children are protected by the High Court, how can NCPCR challenge such an order? It is strange that the NCPCR, which is meant to protect children, has filed this petition," the Bench remarked. Counsel for the NCPCR argued that the matter raised a substantial legal question: whether a girl under 18 could be considered legally competent to marry merely on the basis of personal law.