The varying provisions on the minimum legal age across different laws is a legal loophole leading to problems in curbing child marriage. Owing to this, the National Commission For Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) held national-level talks to smoothen these contradictions, and will soon issue standard operating procedures on the issue. 

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The meet, held at Delhi, was attended by representatives of the ministry of law and justice, the law commission, the Delhi Legal Service Authority (DLSA), district and session judges,  legal authorities from states like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Rajasthan where the problem is prevalent, advocates and civil society organisations.

One of the talking points was the anomaly between the The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), 2012, the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006. While section 375 of the IPC says that marriages of  children between the age of 15 and 18 years is legal, the POCSO Act deems any marriage of individuals below the age of 18 as unlawful. As per the census, over 12 million children in India are married before they reached the age of 10 years. 

“There are some contradictions in the legal framework which are creating a roadblock for the redressal of acts of child marriage, especially in states like Rajasthan and Telangana where the incidences are high. For instance, while the PCMA says that anyone involved in a child marriage is liable to a jail time of two years, it exempts women, who are sometimes the driving force behind these marriages. We will now come to a conclusion on these issues as soon as possible, and a SOP will be prepared,” said Yashwant Jain, the nodal officer at the NCPCR for the POCSO Act, who was present at the meeting. A draft SOP will be sent to the stakeholders for suggestions, he added. 

Another stakeholder, present at the meeting said that one of the major problems that workers face is the provision under the PCMA under which child marriages are not considered unlawful, except in two specific scenarios.

“Only in the case where an injunction has been issued beforehand after authorities or rights workers are made aware of such a marriage, the marriage stands nullified. And, in the case where it can be proved that the child was trafficked to be married off,” said the stakeholder, who wanted to remain anonymous.  A representative of a civil society organisation, who was present at the meeting, said that because the roles of the judiciary and the administration is not spelt out properly, there tends to be duplication of duties. “For instance, in the meeting, five cases from Rajasthan were discussed, wherein girls who were married at a young age went to the court. It’s been two years, and their cases are still pending in court,” said the representative.