The Delhi High Court on September 23 refused to quash a prosecution under POCSO and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita involving a claimed marriage to a child under 18. Justice Sanjeev Narula held that claimed validity under Muslim personal law does not, by itself, exempt an adult from child-protection laws.
The court separated civil validity from criminal liability. It assumed, without finally deciding, that the marriage could have civil validity, then held that this cannot create a criminal-law exception absent from the statute. The ruling does not invalidate every Muslim marriage or settle the couple’s full civil-law status.
POCSO treats a person below 18 as a child. The court also cited Section 63 of the BNS and said religious freedom and personal choice do not override generally applicable child-protection laws. The applicants argued that the relationship should fall outside criminal liability; the court rejected that basis for quashing.
The prosecution may therefore continue. This is not a conviction or a finding of guilt. Identifying family circumstances and medical details are withheld to protect the child’s privacy. Any later trial or appeal must be assessed separately.