Legal action through court injunctions – a provision that existed in law but was rarely invoked earlier – is being hailed as a major step towards stopping child marriages in the tribal-dominated region of Udaipur district in Rajasthan.
It was used here for the first time in April when Khairwara Judicial Magistrate Yatindra Chaudhary issued an injunction under Section 13(1) of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, on an application filed by Gayatri Seva Sansthan. It declared that a child marriage in the town solemnised in contravention of the order would be void ab initio (since the beginning) and violators would draw a jail term of up to two years and fine up to ₹1 lakh.
The district administration, the District Legal Services Authority, Gayatri Seva Sansthan and several public-spirited citizens have joined hands for “practical application” of Section 13(1), which has been seldom used since the enactment of the path-breaking legislation. With the injunction declaring the child marriage null and void, the bride and bridegroom are not required to wait till they become adults to take legal action to get their marriage dissolved. Section 13(3) of the Act also empowers the court of the Judicial Magistrate to take suo motu cognisance of a child marriage on the basis of any reliable report or information.
