The Allahabad Supreme Court has refused to transfer custody of the underage husband to his wife on the grounds that the marriage is contestable and that this would mean sanctioning the cohabitation of a major and a minor.
However, since the 16-year-old boy / husband was unwilling to live with his mother, the court did not transfer custody to her.
The court ordered the authorities concerned to allow the boy to stay in a government facility such as a home until February 4, 2022 until he came of age.
It made it clear that after February 4, 2022, he could stay with whoever, including his wife.
Judge JJ Munir passed the order while approving the petition of the boy’s mother, who was from Azamgarh, and seeking custody of her son.
The petitioner’s mother argued that the underage boy did not have the legal right to marry the girl and that the marriage was null and void under the law.
The boy had previously been brought before the court on September 18, 2020. Then, while the court recorded his testimony, it stated: “There is no doubt that the boy was never forced to stay with his wife or any of the other defendants alleged to be illegally detaining him. He doesn’t seem to have been lured away either. “
However, the court denied the underage boy’s request to keep him in the care of his wife. The woman had also given birth to a child from the underage boy.
The court said, “POCSO law makes living an underage boy with an older girl a criminal offense that would certainly be committed if the boy were in the care of his wife.”
“The custody or care of a minor who makes the minor a victim of a crime and his adult guardian the perpetrator within the meaning of the Act of 2012 (POCSO Act), or has the potential to do so, cannot be viewed as a concern or agreement about the Ensure the minor’s welfare, ”he added.
The court handed down the latest judgment on May 31, 2021 and uploaded it to its website on Monday.
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