In order to curb child marriages in the state, the Bombay High Court (HC) asked the Maharashtra government to explain the steps to prohibit such acts.
This development came after the court observed that there were hardly any First Information Reports (FIRs) registered against the prevailing child marriages in the state.
Meanwhile, it has come to light that the child marriage of around one lakh minor girls have been performed in Maharashtra. This was informed by advocate Asim Sarode to the two judge bench comprising AA Sayed and Abhay Ahuja, who were hearing the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) highlighting the prevalence of such acts in the state and the failure of the authorities to curb the same.
In light of this, Sarode submitted that it was important to involve the State Child Rights Commissions in order to implement the law in all 36 districts of Maharashtra.
He also gave the reference to news articles that showed that in certain districts the number of child marriages had been 1500 in the last two years prompting the court to question why the number of FIRs did not reflect the cases.
Besides, additional government pleader Reena Salunkhe appearing for the state and other authorities informed the court that rules under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act had been formulated and a committee was constituted to look into the effective implementation of the Act.
The bench accepted the submissions and directed the government to file an affidavit enumerating details of the steps taken and measures proposed to be taken to curb the rampant instance of child marriages in the state.
The next hearing has been posted to June 13.
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