ISLAMABAD : Punjab’s newly enacted law that criminalises marriages involving anyone under 18 has landed in the Federal Shariat Court (FSC), opening up a fresh debate over the minimum age of marriage in Pakistan.
The petition, filed by Mufti Muhammad Aslam through his lawyer, names the Punjab Governor and other government authorities as respondents. It challenges key sections of the Punjab Child Marriage Restraint Ordinance 2026, arguing that the law contradicts both the Constitution and Islamic injunctions.
According to the petitioner, criminalising marriages below 18 disregards Islamic principles, where the attainment of puberty — not a fixed age — is considered the defining criterion for marriage. The plea insists that while the state can legislate for public welfare, it cannot pass laws that override Shariah.
The petition seeks to strike down provisions such as Sections 2(c) and 2(d) of the ordinance and has requested the court to suspend its implementation until a final verdict is reached.
Introduced earlier this year, the ordinance marked a major shift in Punjab’s legal framework. For the first time, the minimum marriage age was set at 18 for both men and women — raising the threshold for girls from 16. It also made child marriage a cognizable offence, empowering police to register cases without prior court approval. Parents, guardians, marriage registrars, or anyone facilitating such unions now face imprisonment, fines, or both.
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Child marriage laws in Pakistan have evolved slowly. The Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 set the minimum age at 16 for girls and 18 for boys. Sindh became the first province to raise the age for girls to 18 in 2013. Punjab followed with stricter penalties in 2015 but kept the age unchanged until the 2026 ordinance.
Courts have weighed in before. In 2021, the FSC ruled that the state could fix a minimum marriage age in the public interest without violating Islamic injunctions. In 2024, the Lahore High Court called the difference in marriage ages for boys and girls discriminatory and urged the government to adopt a uniform age of 18.
