PIL In Supreme Court To Raise The Minimum Age Of Marriage To Curb Population Growth

A Public Interest Litigation was filed in the Supreme Court on Tuesday demanding that the legal age for marriage should be increased from 21 to 25 years for men and from 18 to 21 years for women, in society to control the rising population in India.

The petition was filed by Advocate Ashwani Kumar Upadhyay stating that “Fertility depends on the age of marriage. Therefore, the minimum age of marriage should be raised. At present, the minimum age for marriage is 21 years for men and 18 years for women as determined by law. It should be 25 years and 21 years respectively. This law should be firmly implemented and people should also be made aware of this through publicity.”

The petitioner further stated that as per the various surveys and statistics, it has been revealed that the population of India has been increasing quite rapidly. One percent increase means an increase of nearly 1.5 crore people every year. Hence, it is really important to present an effective population control bill. “We recognize that the birth rate is principally responsible for rapid population growth. Hence, measures, which can bring down the birth rate, should be embraced,” he appended.

The petition requires that people with more than two children be declared inadmissible to form a political party, become political carriers and apply for jobs in the executive power and in the justice system.

The petition further seeks directions to the Centre to grant only those parents who bear not more than two children, to contest elections for the Parliament, State Assemblies and local bodies. It also requires that people with more than two children be held ineligible to form a political party, become political office bearer and apply for jobs in the Executive and the Judiciary.

The petition further states that a uniform policy for population control must be carried out, along with awareness campaigns and incentives for those who stick to the norm. It too cites to the recommendations made by the National Commission to review the functioning of the Constitution on population control, bidding for the execution of these standards.

 

Report By: Tushar Solanki, Co-Convener, INBA