Marriage of Minor Muslim girl: Supreme Court pulls up UP Home Secretary over failure to respond to court notices

The Supreme Court today pulled up the Uttar Pradesh Home Secretary for the continued failure of lawyers to respond to the Court’s notices in the plea filed by a minor Muslim girl against an Allahabad High Court order that had declared her marriage as void.

The Home Secretary of the State, who was present today pursuant to the Court’s order, was told by the Bench led by Justice NV Ramana that should the lawyers fail to reply to the Court’s notice, the Home secretary will have to appear personally before the Court to argue in the case.

Evidently displeased by the conduct of the State of Uttar Pradesh, the Court asked why the lawyers were not assisting in the matter when the petitioner girl has been lodged in a shelter home.

As regards the appeal against the High Court’s judgment, the Court today has decided to interact with the girl, her husband, as well as her father. To this end, the Bench has directed the State to produce them before the Court on October 1, when the matter will be heard next.

The case concerns a plea moved by a sixteen year old Muslim girl, through her husband, contending that the marriage entered into by her after attaining puberty is valid under Mohammadan law.

The genesis of the case was a complaint by the girl’s father against the marriage. Pursuant to the complaint, the girl had been lodged at Nari Niketan in Ayodhya on the orders of the lower court. Her marriage had been declared void and she was sent to a Shelter home after she had stated that she did not wish to join her parents. Claiming that her lodging at NariNiketan amounted to illegal detention, she filed a Habeas Corpus petition through her husband before the Allahabad High Court.

The High Court took the view that since the girl was a juvenile, the order of the lower Court was right and she was correctly dealt with as under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2015. The High Court had, therefore, dismissed the petition leading to the current appeal. 

When the matter came up for hearing last week, the State of Uttar Pradesh sought time to file counter affidavit in the matter. The State had made similar requests earlier too on multiple occasions. This prompted the Supreme Court to summon the Home Secretary before it.

[Read Order]