Rising child marriages push activists to take legal course

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PIL filed urging stricter implementation of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006

Chaitraly Deshmukh

Pune: A group of activists from Pune led by Vitthal Bade,Nandini Jadhav, Ranjana Gawande, Satyabhama Saundarmal, Pravin Kadam, Sachin Khedkar filed a Public Interest Litigation in Bombay High Court on March 22 through advocates Asim Sarode  and Ajinkya Udane urging proper implementation of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.

The PIL insisted that rules should be implemented strictly and officers of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) should be held accountable if the law is violated.  The Women State Commission had earlier issued a statement about the increasing number of child marriages in the state during the pandemic.    

The PIL has Ministry Of Women and Child Development Department, Ministry of Social Justice, Ministry Of Education, Director General of Police and Maharashtra State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights as respondents to the PIL.

The PIL has sought for formulation of a stricter system to prohibit such child marriages, rescue victims and take penal action against parents to stop this menace. The PIL further urges urgent formation of rules for the effective implementation of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 Act.  

Elaborating on the issue, Advocate Sarode told Pune Pulse said that, “We have collected data through Right to Information Act and it has come to light that the police are reluctant to take action. In some cases, they don’t want to change local practices.

The claim in our PIL about child marriages taking place in the State has been corroborated by the State government in another petition related to malnutrition deaths in tribal areas.”

The petition was heard before a bench of Justices – A. A. Sayed and  Abhay Ahuja of the Bombay High Court and on Monday (April 18th), the HC bench directed the respondents and issued notices. 

The relief sought in the PIL includes specific rules being formulated and published by the State government within the stipulated time for the effective implementation of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.