HC seeks details of action taken in 821 child marriages

Bombay HC asks Maharashtra govt to provide details of child marriage prohibition officers and action taken against child marriages in the state.

The Bombay high court on Wednesday directed the state government to furnish a list of child marriage prohibition officers (CMPOs) it had appointed across Maharashtra after the government claimed that its officers had prevented 821 child marriages between 2018 and 2022 but did not share details about the cases.

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A division bench of acting chief justice Nitin Jamdar and justice Arif Doctor was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition which alleged that though the Child Marriage Prohibition Act had come into force in 2006, lack of rules on its implementation had resulted in child marriages continuing unabated in the state. The plea was filed by the Child Marriage Prohibition Committee and others.

The counsel for the state submitted an affidavit filed on behalf of woman and child development department, social justice department, education department, director general of police, and Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

The affidavit said that the rules had been notified and CMPOs had been appointed. In four years, the CMPOs had managed to stop 821 marriages involving children; however, keeping in mind the mental and physical wellbeing of the children involved, their names and the names of their families had not been mentioned in their reports, it said.

The affidavit submitted by Shobha Shelar, district women and child development officer, Mumbai City, further said that efforts were being made by roping in Asha workers and local gram panchayats to discourage child marriages while regular awareness programmes were being conducted at district levels.

Government pleader Priyabhushan Kakade informed the bench that the rules had been framed and were notified on October 21, 2022.

After hearing the submissions, the bench said the affidavit lacked details of action taken in the 821 marriages that were stopped by the CMPOs. The bench also said that the affidavit had no information on the number of CMPOs in the state and as a CPMO was directed to provide regular updates about child marriages which had been prevented or reported, the affidavit did not have details about disciplinary action, if any, taken against a CPMO for their failure to discharge their duties.

The bench also asked the state to clarify, through an affidavit, if the existing number of CMPOs were enough, and posted the hearing to August 2.