April 15, 2024
Staff Report
LAHORE:
The Lahore High Court made a significant ruling last week by declaring Section 2(a) of the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 unconstitutional.
The section, which defined a child as a person under 18 years if male and under 16 years if female, was struck down as discriminatory.
The five-page judgment written by Justice Shahid Karim states, “The definition of ‘child’ in the 1929 Act, while making a distinction based on age, is not based on intelligible criteria having a nexus with the object of the law. The definition is indeed a special provision for the protection of women, but in the process, it tends to afford greater protection to males by keeping their age of marriage higher than females.”
The judge said he has no doubt in his mind that the definition of a child, in its present form is “discriminatory”.
The judge instructed the relevant department of the Punjab government to release the updated version of the 1929 Act within the next 15 days, and upload it on the website to ensure accurate dissemination of information.
In his statement, Justice Karim states, “In my opinion, there is no prohibition in the constitution on prescribing a minimum threshold for marriage and therefore to criminalise child marriage. The theme of the 1929 Act is to restrain the solemnization of child marriage. That purpose has been muddled by providing different ages for males and females for which there is no intelligible criteria.”
He further acknowledges, “We, as a nation, woefully lag behind in all major indicators, and half of our population cannot be lost to child-bearing at an early age while its potential remains untapped. Equal opportunities for females mean equal restraint on marriage as the males.”
The judgment also discusses the impact of child marriages and its adverse impact on girls.
The petition was filed by Barrister Azka Wahid and was argued by Barrister Daraab Wali Furqaan.
Furqan, while talking to Voicepk, said that the judgment has resolved the age difference issue. “The Punjab government must amend the Child Marriage Restraint Act through the Punjab Assembly to enforce the ruling.”
When asked about the Punjab government’s intention to challenge the petition, he said, there are slim chances of such action. “The government’s lawyers, during the hearings, acknowledged the severity of issues arising from child marriages, suggesting a recognition of the problem’s severity.”
Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan also have varying marriageable ages. In Sindh, the marriageable age for both males and females is equal, set at 18 years.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), one in six women got married in childhood, and approximately there are 19 million child brides in Pakistan.
Pakistan is also a signatory of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, committing to protect the rights of children, including protecting children from harmful practices, such as early and forceful marriages.