Bombay HC to state: List steps taken to prohibit child marriages in Maharashtra

The HC also directed the state government to submit the status of the rules that are framed under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act through an affidavit and posted a hearing to June 13

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court (HC) on Monday, asked the state government to explain the steps they have taken to prohibit child marriages in Maharashtra. This was after the court observed that there were hardly any First Information Reports (FIRs) registered against the prevailing child marriages in the state.

Bombay HC to state: List steps taken to prohibit child marriages in Maharashtra

The HC also directed the state government to submit the status of the rules that are framed under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act through an affidavit and posted a hearing to June 13.

The division bench of justices AA Sayed and Abhay Ahuja while hearing the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) highlighting the prevalence of child marriages in the state and the failure of the authorities to curb the same were informed by advocate Asim Sarode that child marriage of around one lakh minor girls have been performed in Maharashtra. In light of this, Sarode submitted that it was important to involve the State Child Rights Commissions in order to implement the law in all 36 districts of Maharashtra.

He also gave the reference to news articles that showed that in certain districts the number of child marriages had been 1500 in the last 2 years prompting the court to question why the number of FIRs did not reflect the cases.

Additional government pleader Reena Salunkhe appearing for the state and other authorities informed the court that rules under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act had been formulated and a committee was constituted to look into the effective implementation of the Act.

The bench accepted the submissions and directed the government to file an affidavit enumerating details of the steps taken and measures proposed to be taken to curb the rampant instance of child marriages in the state by June 13, 2022.