New Delhi: The Supreme Court bench led by the Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud, on Monday refused to entertain a petition seeking uniform age for marriage for men and women across all religions. The court said that it can not intervene in the legislative domain and it should be left to Parliament to legislate on the matter.
The bench comprising Justice PS Narasimha and Justice JB Pardiwala was hearing the petition filed by Advocate and BJP member Ashwini Upadhyay who contended that difference in age between men and women was arbitrary and in violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14,15 and 21 of the constitution. He wanted the minimum age for women to be raised to 21 like men.
"You are saying that women's age should not be 18, it should be 21. But if we strike down 18, there will be no age at all. Then even 5-year-olds could get married," said CJI Chandrachud.
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Adv Upadhyay argued that different age for men and women is arbitrary and there is already legislation regarding increasing the age for women for marriage being discussed in the Parliament. Justice Narasimha asked when there is already legislation in the Parliament regarding the matter then why was Upadhyay filing a petition.
Adv Upadhyay sought adjournment in the matter and wanted the court to seek a response from the government but the court refused. He also told the court that if it strikes down the age of 18 then the age of 21 will automatically become the uniform age for everyone because of Section 5 of the Hindu Marriage Act.
However, the court refused to entertain his plea. "Mr Upadhyay don't make a mockery of Article 32. There are some matters which are reserved for the Parliament. We must defer to the Parliament. We can't enact law here. We should not perceive that we are the exclusive custodian of the constitution. Parliament is also a custodian," said CJI Chandrachud.
