CHILD MARRIAGE RESTRAINT ACT (XIX OF 1929)
2. Definitions.– In this Act:
(a) “child” means a person who, if a male, is under eighteen years of age, and if a female, is under sixteen years of age;
(b) “child marriage” means a marriage to which either of the contracting parties is a child;
(c) “Government” means Government of the Punjab;
(d) “minor” means person of either sex who is under eighteen years of age; and
(e) “Union Council” means a Union Council, Municipal Committee, Cantonment Board, a Union Administration or, in case of absence of any of these local governments in a local area, any other comparable body constituted under any law relating to the local governments or local authorities.
— Constitutionality of the definition of ‘child’ contained in Child Marriage Restrained Act, 1929 — Scope — Petitioner sought definition of the ‘child’ meaning a person who if a male is under 18 years of age and if a female is under 16 years of age, given in Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 be declared unconstitutional on the ground that it offended the equality clause in the Constitution — Provincial Government, in response, referred to Islamic jurisprudence regarding age of puberty as the traditional interpretative toolkit and medical science to support the notion of a female attaining puberty at an age which materially differed from a male — Held; difference in age did not necessarily lead to granting a license in the hands of a parent or guardian to marry off a female child — The nuanced concepts of puberty and age of majority were not required to be invoked here — The right question to ask was whether notwithstanding the appearance of signs of puberty differently in males and females, the Government was empowered to prescribe a minimum age for marriage or not? — For, that is what the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 sought to achieve — If this were not the case, the definition of child would have had relation to age of puberty and not ages determined reflexively or randomly — Otherwise there were no manageable standards for assigning ages of sixteen and eighteen for female and male respectively — The theme of the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 was to “restrain the solemnization of child marriage” — That purpose had been muddled by providing different ages for males and females for which there was no intelligible criteria — The definition of child in section 2(a) viz. “if a male ….and if a female is under sixteen years of age” being discriminatory and unconstitutional were held to be without lawful authority and of no legal effect — Provincial Government was directed to issue the revised version of Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929. [PLR 2025 Lahore 1 = PLD 2025 Lahore 1 = 2024 LHC 1392]