Context: The Spotlight is on the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021 The seeks to increase the minimum age of marriage of females to 21 years from the current 18 years.

Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2021- Proposed Amendments

Equal Minimum age of Marriage: Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2021 aims to amend the definition of a “child” in section 2(a) to mean “a male of a female who has not completed twenty-one years of age”.

• The Bill makes the minimum age of marriage the same for both men and women.
• This will help in improving health and social indices such as infant mortality, maternal mortality, and nutrition levels among mothers and children.

Increases window for Filing a petition to declare a child marriage void: Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2021 also increases the window for a “child” to file a petition to declare a child marriage void.

• Presently, section 3(4) of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act allows a woman to file for declaration of child marriage as a void before she turns 20 and for the man before he turns 23.
• Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2021 proposes to extend this window for both the woman and the man to five years after attaining the age of 18.

Voidable Child Marriage: Under the law, child marriages, although illegal, are not void but “voidable.”

• Child marriage can be declared null and void by a court when either party to the marriage files a petition under Article 3(4) of the 2006 Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.
• A “void” marriage, in legal terms, would mean that the marriage had never taken place.

Introduction of a “notwithstanding” clause: This provides for equal application of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act across religions, notwithstanding any customs.
Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2021- Associated Concerns
Since the age of the majority is 18, increasing the age of marriage is viewed as a paternalistic approach by the state in the personal matters of an individual.
Critics believe that the application of the child marriage law across faiths also sets a precedence for the state’s interference in the personal laws
Violating Article 25 of the Constitution: Many believe that the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2021 is violative of Article 25 of the Constitution.

• Article 25 guarantees the freedom of conscience and free profession, practice, and propagation of religion.
• Increasing the minimum age of marriage may further push many marriages to the brink of illegality and marginalize vulnerable sections.

Since the existing Act does not make child marriage automatically illegal, the increase in minimum age might not really benefit women.

• It could also bring those who aid the marriage of a woman over the age of 18 under the ambit of a law that sanctions imprisonment of up to two years.