The Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 and Jaya Jaitly Task Force

By Udbhav Bhargava

The minimum age of marriage for women in India will probably get changed from 18 to 21 as the government has created up a high-level committee to delve deep into to the matter to deliver their recommendations by July 31. The 10-member working group would have members from Women and Child Development, Law and Education ministries. An amendment in the marriage age provisions of the Sarda Act is seen as a probable conclusion.

Jaya Jaitly, former president of the Samata Party, is coined as the head of the committee and will guided by VK Paul (Health Department, NITI Aayog) along with the other members. The Task Force will discuss topics pertaining to motherhood and marriage at an early age, the age of motherhood, the imperatives of a decline in maternal mortality rates, and dietary changes.

A background of laws codifying legal age of marriage

The legislation prescribes a minimum marriage age to effectively prohibit child marriages and deter child violence. In 1860, the Indian Penal Code criminalized any sexual activity with a child below 10 years of age. Age of Consent Bill, 1927 found marriages with a girl below 12 illegitimate.

Sarda Act

The Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929, defined 14 and 18 years as the minimum marriage age for women and men respectively. After its proponent Harbilas Sarda, a judge and an affiliate of Arya Samaj, the legislation is popularly known as the Sarda Act. It was the first topic of social change that an organized women’s community in India had taken up. Via picketing their delegations, carrying placards and shouting slogans, this group forced many lawmakers to back the act.  They thought passing of this act would show the world that India is serious about social reforms. During the colonial era of British rule in India the Act remained a futile exercise British did not want to gain the resentment among the communal elements of Hindus and Muslims. Principally states have been excluded from the effect of the Act.

Post-Independence the Sarda act was amended in 1978. Since then, the minimum legal age for marriage has been 18 for women and 21 for men. The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 also prescribe 18 and 21 years as the minimum age of consent for marriage for women and men respectively and have codified provisions that enable stringent measures against the promoters of child marriage.