October 02, 2025
By Ahmed Saeed
LAHORE
The National Commission on the Status of Women, women parliamentarians, and women’s rights activists have unanimously condemned recent rulings by the Lahore High Court and Islamabad High Court that have validated marriages of 15-year-old girls on the basis of puberty. They declared these decisions contrary to the Child Marriage Restraint Act and detrimental to women’s welfare.
The controversial judgments have reignited a fierce debate over the intersection of religious jurisprudence, statutory law, and children’s rights in Pakistan—a country home to over 19 million child brides, according to UNICEF, with nearly one in six young women married before turning 18 and as many as 4.8 million girls wed before age 15.
Judicial divisions deepen
Lahore High Court Justice Tariq Saleem Bajwa ruled in his verdict that under Islamic law, a marriage contracted after attaining puberty is valid, regardless of whether the age falls below the minimum set by the Child Marriage Restraint Act. It should be noted that in Punjab province, the minimum age for girls’ marriage is set at 16 years.
Meanwhile, Islamabad High Court Justice Muhammad Azam Khan validated the marriage of a 15-year-old girl in a July ruling, observing that the Islamabad Child Marriage Restraint Act does not render such marriages void but rather punishes those who facilitate them.
In his detailed order issued following a hearing on July 11, Justice Khan allowed the underage girl to live with her husband while simultaneously recommending comprehensive steps to strengthen the legal framework protecting minors.
“In view of the fact that the alleged detenue has attained puberty and appears to have given free and voluntary consent, she shall be at liberty to reside with the petitioner,” the verdict stated.
When presented before the court on July 11, the girl “unequivocally affirmed that she had contracted marriage with the petitioner of her own choice and expressed her desire to reside with him, explicitly declining to return to her parents,” the order stated. “It is noteworthy that even during her stay at the Crisis Centre, Islamabad, she has consistently maintained this position.”
The legal paradox
Justice Khan’s judgment delved deep into what he termed a “legal paradox”—where marriage is considered valid under one body of law but criminal under another.
“While a marriage wherein either or both of the parties were under 18 is not void under the Shariah, it is nonetheless punishable by law and treated as contrary to public policy, especially where it undermines the minor’s physical, emotional, and educational development,” Justice Khan observed.
The judge pointed out that the Islamabad Child Marriage Restraint Act 2025, passed in May and raising the minimum marriage age for girls from 16 to 18, “does not render the marriage itself void” but has been “enacted merely to punish the party contracting, arranging and/or solemnising a marriage with a child.”
“This bifurcation, where the marriage is considered valid under one body of law but criminal under another, creates a legal paradox that risks frustrating the very objective of the statute, which is to act as a deterrent against child marriages and protect minors from premature unions that could harm their physical, emotional, and educational well-being,” the judgement said.
Calls for reform and judicial sensitisation
The National Commission on the Status of Women has stated that the judiciary should interpret laws in accordance with the spirit of Pakistan’s constitutional guarantees and international obligations.
Parliamentary Secretary for Human Rights Saba Sadiq expressed regret over these verdicts, stating that judges need to be sensitized for proper application of the law. She expressed hope that the Supreme Court would provide corrective guidance.
Nida Aly, Executive Director of the Asma Jahangir Legal Aid Cell, explained that while the law criminalizes child marriage, it does not permit annulment of such marriages. “This deficiency is why judges deliver verdicts according to their own interpretation in each case,” she said.
Aly further noted that the Federal Shariat Court has already ruled in one decision that at the time of marriage, not only the girl’s puberty but also her health and mental capacity should be considered.
Contrasting precedent
It should be noted that previously, in 2022, Islamabad High Court Justice Babar Sattar declared child marriage illegal and wrong, stating that such sexual relations fall within the category of rape.
The respondents’ lawyers in the recent case cited Justice Sattar’s 2022 IHC ruling to “contend that marriages contracted between a minor and an adult are considered void ab initio, as the same constitute a criminal offence under the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929.”
However, the petitioner’s counsel, Advocate Shumaila Rafique Awan, cited Supreme Court orders from 1970 and 2021 to “assert that the marriage contracted is valid under the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961.”
Human cost in stark numbers
Khawar Mumtaz, former Chairperson of the National Commission on the Status of Women, stated that child marriage is equivalent to snatching away a girl’s life.
According to United Nations data, Pakistan has an alarmingly high maternal mortality rate among underage pregnant girls. For girls aged 15 to 19, the maternal mortality rate during pregnancy is 249 per 100,000. In contrast, for women aged 20 to 24, this rate decreases to 131 per 100,000.
These statistics underscore the devastating physical consequences of early marriage and pregnancy on girls’ bodies that are not yet fully developed for childbearing.