Muslim marriage cannot override POCSO law: Delhi High Court
The court holds ‘personal law may determine whether a marriage has been contracted’, but cannot create an exception to a criminal law where Parliament has provided none, dismissing a petition seeking the quashing of an FIR registered against a man for rape under the BNS and the POCSO Act
The Delhi High Court has ruled that a marriage recognized under Muslim personal law cannot provide immunity from prosecution under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act when the wife was under 18 at the time of sexual intercourse. In a judgment delivered on September 23, 2026, Justice Sanjeev Narula dismissed a petition seeking to quash a First Information Report (FIR) registered against a man for rape under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the POCSO Act.
The court held that while personal law determines the validity of a marriage, it cannot create an exception to criminal law where Parliament has not provided one. The case involved a 16-year and three-month-old girl who married a 27-year-old man in December 2024. She was subsequently pregnant and disclosed her age during a hospital visit.
The court rejected the contention that Muslim personal law granted the girl the competence to marry, stating that the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) sets 18 as the age below which consent to sexual activity has no legal efficacy.
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- ‘Marriage under personal law no exemption from criminal liability’: Delhi HC hindustantimes.com
