Delhi High Court rules personal law cannot override POCSO protections for minors

The Delhi High Court has ruled that marriage recognized under Muslim personal law does not grant immunity from criminal prosecution under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act or the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) if the wife is under 18 years of age.

Justice Sanjeev Narula refused to quash an FIR against a man who married a girl when she was 16 years and three months old. The court observed that “marriage does not advance a child’s age” and that a person remains the age they were before the ceremony. The ruling clarified that personal law cannot create exceptions that Parliament has expressly excluded from statutory protections.

The case involved a 28-year-old man and a woman who was 16 at the time of marriage. The woman’s age was discovered during a hospital visit while she was pregnant. The court rejected arguments regarding the woman's consent, noting that POCSO criminalizes sexual assault against anyone under 18 regardless of consent, and the BNS treats sexual intercourse with a woman under 18 as rape.