PIL To Lower Men's Marriageable Age From 21 To 18 Dismissed By SC With Rs. 25,000 Cost

The Supreme Court today dismissed a public interest litigation filed seeking to lower the legal age of men to marry from 21 to 18. The bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice S K Kaul and Justice K M Joseph also imposed a cost of Rs.25,000/- on the petitioner while dismissing the petition.

The PIL was filed by Advocate Asok Pande, who contended that if an 18 year old man has the right to vote and join army, there was no rationale in restricting his right to marry until attaining the age of 21.

The Court observed that the petitioner, who was aged above 50 years, had no locus standi to file the petition. "Let someone of the age of 18 approach the Court", remarked the CJI while dismissing the petition.