From Abid Usman
LAHORE: A citizen has filed a petition in the Federal Shariat Court challenging the recently enacted Child Marriage Restraint Bill 2025, which prohibited the marriage of girls under the age of 18.
Filed by Shehzada Adnan through his counsel Advocate Mudasar Chaudhry, the petition argued that the law is contrary to the teachings of the Quran and Hadith. The petitioner contended that the legislation, which criminalised underage marriage and included punishment with rigorous imprisonment, violated Islamic injunctions and was unconstitutional.
The petition cited Quranic verses to support the claim that Islam does not fix a specific minimum age for marriage. It also asserted that prescribing rigorous imprisonment for such cases was against both the constitution and Islamic principles.
The petitioner has requested the court to declare the law null and void for being in violation of Shariah, and to restrain the state from filing cases under this law until a final verdict is issued.
Earlier, President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday accorded his assent to the Islamabad Capital Territory Child Marriage Restraint Bill, according to a notification by the Presidency shared by PPP Senator Sherry Rehman on X. The bill, which seeks to protect the rights of children and eventually eradicate marriages of children under the age of 18, reached the presidency on May 27 after sailing through both houses of parliament.
