"Indian Majority Act 150 Yr Old; Examine If Age Of Majority Needs To Be Revised": P&H High Court Issues Notice To Centre, States/UT

The Bench of Justice Amol Rattan Singh has also directed the Home Secretary/Addl. Chief Secretary to inform the Court as to whether there is any proposal for tabling any amendment as regards an upward revision in the age of majority.

The Court issued notice to the Governments observing thus:

"This court finds it necessary to issue notice to the Union of India and the States of Punjab and Haryana as also the UT, Chandigarh, to go into the issue as to whether the age of majority needs to be revised or not, the Indian Majority Act, 1875, being an Act enacted more than 150 years ago; and with teenagers now, normally still being students even sometimes well into their 20s, whereas that was not usually the position at the time when the said Act was enacted."

The matter in brief

This direction by the High Court came on a protection petition filed by a couple in a live-in relationship. Hearing the matter on June 29, the Court had asked the State of Haryana to determine the age of the couple.

Pursuant to this direction, the state counsel, during the course of the hearing last week, placed before the Bench filed an affidavit filed by Panchkula ACP.

The affidavit stated that as per the school record, the couple was above 18, and the boy was about three months short of 21 and the girl slightly short of 19.

Court's directions

Noting the age of the couple, the Court observed that the petitioners have to be considered to be adults (whether mentally so or not is a separate issue altogether).

Therefore, the Court said:

"If they have chosen to live together and have at least not admitted any marriage between them, there would therefore be no question of invocation of the provisions of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006. Consequently, there remains nothing to be done by this court except to issue directions to respondents no.2 and 3 to continue to ensure that the life and liberty of the petitioners are protected."

Lastly, issuing notices, the Court also noted that the issued was something which is wholly in the domain of the legislature, however, the Court added, since these kinds of cases are on the rise these days, it is considered necessary to at least obtain the response of the Governments concerned.

Last year, in a judgment passed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court last year, it was observed that children these days attain both physiological as well as psychological maturity long before they complete the ages of majority fixed for them by the statute long ago.

Justice Sanjay Kumar observed that it is scientifically recognized fact that girls tend to be more mature than boys of the same age and that is why the age of majority [for purpose of marriage] is fixed as 18 for girls and 21 for boys.

Case title - Aaftab and another vs. State of Haryana and others.

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