Nazma, a Muslim girl was married to Ahmed when she was 13 years old. After 6 months she went back to her father's house and refused to come back to Ahmed's home. Ahmed filed a petition for restitution of conjugal rights. Nazma pleaded she is no longer his wife as immediately in attaining puberty she had repudiated the marriage with him. In rejoinder, Ahmed pleaded consummation of marriage puberty. Decide who will succeed. Give reasons.

Question: Nazma, a Muslim girl was married to Ahmed when she was 13 years old. After 6 months she went back to her father's house and refused to come back to Ahmed's home. Ahmed filed a petition for restitution of conjugal rights. Nazma pleaded she is no longer his wife as immediately in attaining puberty she had repudiated the marriage with him. In rejoinder, Ahmed pleaded consummation of marriage puberty. Decide who will succeed. Give reasons. [DJS 1996]

Find the question and answer of Muslim Law only on Legal Bites. [Nazma, a Muslim girl was married to Ahmed when she was 13 years old. After 6 months she went back to her father's house and refused to come back to Ahmed's home. Ahmed filed a petition for restitution of conjugal rights. Nazma pleaded she is no longer his wife as immediately in attaining puberty she had repudiated the marriage with him. In rejoinder, Ahmed pleaded consummation of marriage puberty. Decide who will succeed. Give reasons.]

Answer

A boy or girl who has not reached puberty is not considered competent under Muslim law to enter into a marriage contract, but their guardian may nonetheless do so. When a father or the father's father marries a minor, the marriage is legally binding and cannot be revoked by the minor once puberty has been reached. When a minor is given the choice to repudiate a marriage when they reach puberty, the guardian must not be their father or their father's father.

By the 'Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939', all restrictions on the options of puberty in the case of a minor girl whose marriage has been arranged by a father or grandfather have been abolished, and under Section 2(vii) of the Act a wife is entitled to the dissolution of her marriage if she proves the following facts, namely, (1) the marriage has not been consummated, (2) the marriage took place before she attained the age of 15 years, and (3) she has repudiated the marriage before attaining the age of 18 years.

"Puberty" under Mohammedan law is presumed, in the absence of evidence, on completion of the age of 15 years. The child must, then, exercise the choice after the age of 15 unless there is proof to the contrary that puberty had reached earlier; the burden of establishing this will be on the party making the request. Anything a minor does while still, a minor does not affect a right that only develops after puberty. Thus, the "option" to end the marriage after puberty would not be eliminated by a minor girl living with her parents. Due to the minor's lack of legal capacity to enter into a contract before reaching puberty, neither the consummation nor its timing should have occurred without her agreement.

Therefore, if a marriage is consummated before a person reaches puberty, that person still retains the right to repudiate the union once they reach puberty.

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