Don’t punish a child for marrying a female adult: SC
GS Paper II
Topic: Mechanisms, laws, institutions and bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections
Prelims:
Mains: Impact of Child marriages of minor girls on minor girls
What’s the News?
A male who has not reached the age of 21 is a “child” as per the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006. However, a male aged between 18 and 21 marrying a female above 18 years will not be punishable under the Act for contracting a child marriage, the Supreme Court has ruled.
Marriage law in India: Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006
- In our country, the essential condition for the validity of any marriage is solemnization of the religious ceremonies prescribed by the religion to which the parties belong.
- Customs have an overriding effect on the law otherwise Hindu law does prescribe the minimum age as 18 and 21 for girls and boys respectively, whereas Muslim law prescribes the minimum age as that at which one attains puberty.
- This confers the status of husband and wife upon the parties to the marriage and the marriages are not void but merely voidable. Thus such marriages would continue to be perfectly valid till the time either of the parties chooses to get it annulled.
- There is an option of repudiation available to minor wives under Section 13(2)(iv) of Hindu Marriage Act and Section 2(vii) of the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939 wherein she can, after attaining the age of 15 years and before attaining the age of 18 years, exercise the option to repudiate the marriage.
- The Act in its current form makes the marriage of a man who is over 18 years with a woman under 18 a cognisable and a non-bailable offence punishable with imprisonment of two years and a fine of Rs 1 lakh, but recognises the union as valid.
- Under Section 3(3) the Prohibition of child Marriage Act, 2006 both the boy as well as the girl have the right to opt out of marriage until two years after attaining majority i.e. up to the age of 20 years for a girl and 23 years for the boy.
Section 9 of Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006:
It lays down “punishment for male adult marrying a child” and says that “whoever, being a male adult above eighteen years of age, contracts a child marriage shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment which may extend to two years or with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees or with both.”
History and intent of the lawmakers:
- The sole objective of the provision is to punish a man for marrying a minor girl.
- The intention behind punishing only male adults contracting child marriages is to protect minor girls.
- The 2006 Act also gives an option for prospective grooms who are between 18 and 21 years old to opt out of marriages.
The case:
- The case at hand concerned a boy who married a 21-year-old woman when he was 17 years old.
- The Punjab and Haryana High Court had set aside its own order providing protection to the couple, and initiated prosecution against the boy for contracting a child marriage, in which he himself was the child.
Supreme Court ruling:
- The Supreme Court set aside the HC order, saying the intent behind Section 9 was not to punish a child for contracting a child marriage.
- The court said neither does the provision punish a child for marrying a woman nor a woman for marrying a male child.
- The latter because “in a society like ours, decisions regarding marriage are usually taken by the family members of the bride and groom, and women generally have little say in the matter.”
- The SC, however, said that Section 9 would not apply even if his age was 17 as the said provision clearly states that it will only apply where the “male adult” is “above eighteen years of age”.
- Provisions of the 2006 Act would mean that if a male aged between the years of eighteen and twenty-one contracts marriage with a female above eighteen years of age, the female adult would not be punished, but it is the male who would be punished for contracting a child marriage, though he himself is a child.
- The bench added that “we are of the view that such an interpretation goes against the object of the Act as borne out in its legislative history”.
- The court ruled that the words “male adult above eighteen years of age, contracts a child marriage” in Section 9 of the 2006 Act should be read as “male adult above eighteen years of age marries a child”.
Child marriages of minor girls:
The incidences of child marriages, especially of minor girls, are higher amongst the socially, economically and educationally backward sections, the highest numbers being reported from the states of Rajasthan and Bihar.
Principal reasons:
- Concerns for her safety as she attains puberty,
- Control over her sexuality as the patriarchal society puts great emphasis on the virginity of brides,
- Customs, less awareness of laws, dowry which increases in direct proportion to the age and education of the girl prompting the parents to look for more educated boys.
Its impact on girl child:
- It has crippling effect on the overall growth of the child, especially the girl as her exposure to sex and its related issues adversely impact her health.
- There is the fear of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
- Her nutrition, education, employability, confidence; it all takes a beating in an alien household.
Way ahead: Child marriage- a social problem
- The continuance of child marriages despite so many measures underscores that the society gives more importance to the institution of marriage than the parties in it.
- By granting valid status to such marriages is there a tacit consent to the continuance of old customary practices despite their being rendered otiose in contemporary times.
- What is needed is a concerted effort by all the stakeholders- parties, parents and the community.
- Safeguarding the interests of children should be our priority. Targeted interventions by religious leaders can make an impact.
- Focus should be on educating and empowering girls. A collective stand should be taken against child marriages and those who practice it should be socially ostracized.
Noble winner’s prescription: put money in the hands of the poor
Paper: GS-III
Topic: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.
For Prelims and Mains: Nobel Prize for Economics, Prescriptions of Abhijit Banerjee to kick-start Indian Economy.
Why in news?
- Abhijit Banerjee, the renowned economist who was one of three awarded the Nobel Prize for economics, put together some prescriptions for what the Indian economy needs right now.
Some Prescriptions of Banerjee for Indian Economy:
- At the launch of his latest book, Good Economics for Hard Times, Economics Nobel Prize winner Abhijit Banerjee along with his co-author and fellow prize winner Esther Duflo said “Instead of cutting corporate taxes, the government should put money in the hands of poorer people who will spend it immediately and kick-start demand in the economy”.
- The clear fact is that the corporate sector is actually sitting on cash and is not investing. Because every sign of a demand problem is seen there.
- We have to get the demand side going. And for that, we need to get the money into the hands of the people who will spend it now.
- Duflo added that the present government’s efforts to ensure that the poor have bank accounts would make it possible to implement such a strategy.
Prescriptions to take immediately:
- Become much pro-active in getting money into the hands of the Poor people.
- Raise the MGNREGA Wage.
- Raise prices for Farmers.
- Sell the private sector Banks rather than trying to fix them and give the new owners the freedom to make changes they need.
- Relax Monetary Policy.
- Let the rupee Slide.
Nobel Prize of Economics:
- The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, is informally known as The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, is an award for outstanding contributions mainly to the field of economics, but could be awarded in other fields of social sciences, like political science, psychology, and sociologyif they impact economic issues.
- The prize was established in 1968 by a donation from Sweden’s central bank Sveriges Riksbankto the Nobel Foundation to commemorate the bank’s 300th anniversary.
- As it is not one of the prizes that Alfred Nobel established in his will in 1895, it is not technically a Nobel Prize. However, it is administered and referred to along with the Nobel Prizes by the Nobel Foundation, Laureates are announced with the Nobel Prize laureates, and receive the award at the same ceremony.
- The award carries a purse of 9 million Swedish krona (about Rs 6.5 crore).
- The 2019 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel has been awarded jointly to Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer“for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty” and this is only the second time a woman has bagged the prestigious award.
Conclusion:
- Governments across the world, including in India, spend big money on social schemes without the vaguest of ideas on whether their objectives have been met.
- The field-work based approach that these economists have perfected has revolutionized the field of development economics and made it more relevant in policy making.
- The government would do well to borrow from the research of these laureates to understand the impact of its several schemes, and where necessary, tweak them to derive maximum benefit for the thousands of crores of rupees that it spends.