The Supreme Court issued notices to Rajasthan and Delhi High Court to transfer their petitions regarding uniform age of marriage for men and women to the Top Court, as they themselves hear a petition of the same nature.
Petitioner and lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, represented by Senior Advocate Geeta Luthra presented the petition to the Supreme Court.
The petitioners explained their reasoning why the petition, stating that the age difference had no scientific basis, was of a patriarchal background, perpetuated de jure and was de-facto unequal to women.
The petition spoke of avoiding multiplicity of laws as they alleged the age difference provision presented conflicting views under interpretations of Article 14, 15 and 21 and judgements involving gender and justice.
The petition spoke of amending sections that provided for the age difference such as Section 60(1) of the Indian Christian Marriage Act, Section 3(1)C of the Parsi Marriage Divorce Act, Section 4(c) of Special Marriages Act, Section 2(a) Prohibitions of Child Marriages Act and Section 5(iii) of the Hindu Marriages Act.
The petitioner prayed to the court to give directions to the Central Government to take appropriate steps to remove this anomaly in the spirit of Articles 14, 15, 21 and according to the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) something that India had ratified in 1993.
The CEDAW ensured that India would move towards a path where they remove societal practices that encourage differences between a woman and a man that are based on inferiority or superiority of either sexes or their stereotypes.
The petitioners concluded their arguments asking the Supreme Court to take cognizance of the matter and along with that have the similar petitions being heard in Delhi High Court and Rajasthan High Court to be transferred to the Top Court so as to ensure uniformity and save the precious time of the judicial system.