Federal Constitutional Court Rules on Underage Marriage
The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has ruled that while underage marriages may invite criminal liability under the Child Marriage Act, 1929, such unions cannot be declared void. The court held this in a case involving a Lahore-based girl, Maria Bibi, who had converted to Islam and married a Muslim man.
Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi authored the detailed judgment, also stating that under Islamic law, a Muslim man is permitted to marry women from the “People of the Book”, including Christians and Jews. The court declared both her conversion and marriage valid, observing that she had embraced Islam before the nikah and had submitted a formal declaration to that effect.
The Child Marriage Act, 1929 — a colonial-era law still in force in parts of Pakistan — criminalises marriages where either party is below the prescribed age but does not render such marriages void or voidable. Instead, it prescribes punishments for those facilitating or contracting child marriages.
The court also ruled that questions relating to the girl’s age or the authenticity of religious documents could not be examined in habeas corpus proceedings. It further declared that the FCC is the final forum for constitutional interpretation and is bound by its rulings, not obligated to follow precedents set by the Supreme Court if they are inconsistent with the Constitution or statutory law.
The court questioned the reliability of documentary evidence presented, noting a discrepancy between Maria’s age as stated in her father’s FIR and during arguments. The girl had testified that she had married voluntarily and was not kidnapped, leading to the dismissal of her father’s kidnapping case.