PRAYAGRAJ, July 8 -- The Allahabad high court has held that the Muslim personal law principle recognising puberty as the age of marriage cannot override central laws such as the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, which criminalises sexual relations with a child. The court observed that the legal age of marriage is the same for every citizen, irrespective of religion.

It further held that the Shariat law permitting a girl to marry on attaining puberty runs "clearly in the teeth of" the PCMA as well as the Pocso Act.

In its July 1 judgment, a division bench of Justice JJ Munir and Justice Achal Sachdeva made the observations while dismissing a writ petition filed by Ru...