Supreme Court Refuses To Entertain Plea Seeking Uniform Age Of Marriage For Men & Women

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed another petition seeking for uniform age of marriage for men and women. The matter was listed before a bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narasimha, and Justice JB Pardiwala. 

At the very outset, the Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta submitted that the court had earlier too dismissed a petition seeking similar directions. He argued that the matter fell within the legislative domain. He also added that if the provisions providing for age of marriage are struck down, there would be no minimum age for marriage in the country. The SG was referring to a petition filed by lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, which had argued that the difference in stipulated age of marriage for men and women was based on on patriarchal stereotypes, hadd no scientific backing, perpetrated de jure and de facto inequality against women, and went completely against the global trends.

Accordingly, the bench dismissed the petition stating that the matter had already been dealt with in Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay And Anr. v. UoI And Ors.

Currently, while men are permitted to marry at the age of 21 years, women are permitted to marry at 18 years of age.

In the earlier petition, the bench had observed during the hearing that it was ultimately a matter for the Parliament to decide. CJI DY Chandrachud had said–

"Mr Upadhyay, don't make a mockery of Article 32. There are some matters which are reserved for the parliament. We must defer to the parliament. We can't enact law here. We should not perceive that we're the exclusive custodian of constitution. Parliament is also a custodian."

Click Here To Read/Download Order