The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to examine the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights’ plea challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court order that a Muslim girl can marry a person of her choice after attaining puberty.
The top court held that the high court judgment, which held that a Muslim girl aged 15 years can enter into a legal and valid marriage as per personal law, should not be relied on as a precedent in any other case.
A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha issued notices to the Haryana government and others and appointed senior advocate Rajshekhar Rao as amicus curiae in the matter to assist the court. “We are inclined to entertain these writ petitions. Issue notice. Pending further orders, impugned judgment (of HC) shall not be relied upon as precedent,” the bench said.
