SEEMA BEGAUM Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner has sought the relief of declaration that the provisions of the Prevention of Child Marriage Act, 2006 ('P.C.M. Act' for short) are not applicable to her. The petitioner belongs to Muslim community. She has attained puberty and she is now aged 16 years. Sri Chandrashekar P. Patil, the Learned Counsel for the petitioner submits that a Mohammedan girl of 15 years, who has attained puberty, is competent to marry without the consent of her parents. He submits that the marriage of a Mohammedan minor girl, who has not attained the puberty, may be contracted by her guardian. He submits that when the petitioner's personal law provides for the child marriages, the same cannot be taken away or diluted by the P.C.M. Act.

(2.) The Learned Counsel submits that the petitioner's personal law would prevail over the other laws. In support of his submissions, he read out Section 2 of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, which is extracted herein below:

(3.) He submits that as per Section 2(a) of the P.C.M. Act, 'child' means a person who, if a male, has not completed twenty-one years of age, and if a female, has not completed eighteen years of age. This prescription of the marriageable age has no application for the girls belonging to Mohammedan community, as they are governed by Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, the provisions of which are extracted herein above.