New Delhi, Sept. 26 -- The Delhi High Court has observed that marriage does not advance a child's age and a marriage claimed to be valid under Muslim personal law cannot provide immunity from prosecution under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act or the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for sexual intercourse with a wife below 18 years of age.

Justice Sanjeev Narula, while refusing to quash an FIR against a man who married a girl when she was 16 years and three months old, observed, "Put simply, marriage does not advance a child's age. A person who is sixteen before the ceremony remains sixteen afterwards."

The Court said that for the purposes of POCSO and Section 63 of the BNS, the age of the girl is determinative of...