Justice Khalid Ibn-i-Aziz of the Lahore High Court (LHC) has ruled that the Child Marriage Restraint Act 2026 cannot be applied retrospectively, which means it does not reach a marriage performed before the law took effect. The judgment set aside a sessions court order from Khushab that had declared a married girl underage and directed that she be moved to a shelter home. The court also dismissed a separate constitutional petition filed by the girl's father and held that she was free to live wherever she wished.
Why the law did not apply to this marriage
According to the judgment, the Act came into force on May 11, 2026, while the marriage had been solemnised on April 18, 2026, before the legislation took effect. The court said laws ordinarily cannot be applied to events that happened before they were enforced. It added that using newly enacted legislation retrospectively to start legal proceedings would run against established legal principles.
The sessions court had earlier found the girl to be under 16 and ordered her removal to a shelter home. The high court's ruling set that order aside. The judgment concerns a marriage that took place before the Act came into force, and it does not address marriages performed after May 11, 2026.
The girl's account and the limits of the shelter order
The girl told a magistrate that she had married of her own free will and had not been abducted. She also refused to return to her father and said she wished to live with her husband. The LHC observed that proceedings under Section 552 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), the main criminal procedure law, required an examination of the legal conditions concerning alleged abduction and the girl's age. Where a girl disputes that she is underage, the court said, the grounds for continuing such proceedings must be reassessed.
The court also clarified that Section 552 does not allow courts to hold a girl in a shelter home indefinitely. Detaining a person against her stated wishes without meeting the legal requirements, the judgment observed, would be contrary to law.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- April 18, 2026: The marriage is solemnised, before the Child Marriage Restraint Act 2026 took effect.
- May 11, 2026: The Child Marriage Restraint Act 2026 comes into force.
- May 20, 2026: The Khushab sessions court declares the girl under 16 and orders her transfer to a shelter home.
- November 2026: The Lahore High Court sets aside the sessions court order and rules that the Act cannot be applied retrospectively.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Lahore High Court ne kaha hai ke Child Marriage Restraint Act 2026 un shadiyon par pichli tareekh se lagu nahi hota jo is qanoon ke aane se pehle hui thi. Khushab ki adalat ka wo hukm khatam kar diya gaya jis mein ek shadi shuda larki ko nabalig qarar de kar shelter home bhejne ka kaha gaya tha. Adalat ne yeh bhi kaha ke larki ko apni marzi se rehne ka haq hai aur use marzi ke khilaf hirasat mein nahi rakha ja sakta. Aam logon ke liye matlab yeh hai ke shadi ki tareekh aur qanooni shart adalat mein ahem hain.
