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Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 and Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat

By CAShorts DeskPublished Source: PIB (Ministry of Women and Child Development); India Code; Supreme Court of India.

Why in news: A PIB backgrounder of 6 November 2026 put child marriage at 20.1% in NFHS-6, as Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat nears two years.

Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 and Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat
Illustration (AI-generated)

The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 bars the marriage of girls under 18 and boys under 21. It makes such marriages voidable and punishes those who arrange them. Offences under the Act are cognizable and non-bailable. The Women and Child Development Ministry's 6 November 2026 note puts prevalence at 20.1% in NFHS-6, down from 23.3% in NFHS-5.

Syllabus: Prelims · Economy & Social Development; GS1 · Women, Population & Urbanisation; GS2 · Government Policies

Why this matters for UPSC

GS1 society and GS2 welfare of vulnerable sections: child marriage law and Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat. Prelims asks the Act's ages and offences; Mains, why the practice persists.

In short

The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 forbids marriage of girls under 18 and boys under 21; India pairs its penal deterrence with preventive officers, injunctions and community campaigns.

Framework against childmarriageProhibition ofChild MarriageActCMPOsInjunctionsBal Vivah MuktBharatBeti Bachao BetiPadhao

The law is sound on paper; ending child marriage by 2030 needs full-time officers, a clear rule on personal laws and girls kept in school.

Why it matters

A girl married at fifteen often has her schooling cut short, and an early pregnancy puts her health at risk. Marriage at that age also leaves her more exposed to violence at home and keeps her family poor for another generation. The law offers her two kinds of help: an officer or a magistrate can stop the wedding before it happens, and she can undo it once she is an adult. That help is real only where a district has an officer free to do the work, neighbours report, and police act. Child marriage therefore sits where gender equality, child rights and local administration meet.

Prelims pointers

  • Disobeying a magistrate's injunction against a child marriage is itself an offence, punishable with up to two years' imprisonment or a fine up to one lakh rupees.
  • A minor seeking to annul a child marriage files through a guardian or next friend, joined by the Child Marriage Prohibition Officer.
  • Children born of a child marriage remain legitimate, and the Act provides for maintenance, residence and custody arrangements.
  • CMPOs are appointed by State Governments, not the Centre; police and public order fall in the State List of the Seventh Schedule.
  • Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, begun on 22 January 2015, targets the Child Sex Ratio; the Health, Education, Skill Development and Minority Affairs Ministries are partners.
  • CHILDLINE 1098 is a round-the-clock emergency phone service for children in crisis; it works with police and CMPOs to prevent child marriages.
  • The National Crime Records Bureau publishes cases registered under the 2006 Act in its annual report 'Crime in India'.

Practise a UPSC-style question

With reference to the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, consider the following statements:

1. A male who has not completed twenty-one years of age is a child under the Act.

2. A petition to annul a child marriage may be filed by the parents of either contracting party.

3. The Act replaced the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. (a) 1 and 2 only
  2. (b) 2 and 3 only
  3. (c) 1 and 3 only
  4. (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only. The Act's age for males and its 1929 predecessor are right; the petitioner is wrong.

Statement 1: correct. The 2006 Act treats a male under 21 and a female under 18 as a child.

Statement 2: incorrect. Only the contracting party who was a child at marriage may petition the district court, through a guardian or next friend if still a minor.

Statement 3: correct. The 2006 Act replaced the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929, known as the Sarda Act.

Eliminate: Statement 2 is incorrect, so every option containing 2 goes. Out: (a), (b), (d).

Trap: Swapped attribution. The right to seek annulment belongs to the child party alone; the statement hands it to the parents, who are often the ones arranging the marriage.

Remember: Annulment is the child party's option, filed within two years of reaching majority.

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