Family Law 1

At the end of this chapter, learners will be able to understand the different types of family forms and
marriages recognized in Pakistan. In addition, learners will also identify the requirements of entering
into a valid marriage and know which marriages are invalid.
What is a family?

A method for obtaining the learners response to the question is to divide the class into small
groups and ask them to come to a group decision as to what is meant by a family. They could
consider the following:

1. What are the characteristics of a family?

2. Is a family, a certain number of people?
3. Is it a group of people with a special relationship with each other? Explanation: 5 min
4. Is their relationship based on blood, marriage, or some other relationship? Group discussion: 15 min
5. Who are the members of a family? Report back: 15 min
6. Does the law give special protection to members of a family? general discussion : 10min
total :45 min
Each group could then be asked to discuss its conclusions with the rest of the class.
Procedure: 1. explain the
concept of family 2. Divide
Expected answers would include: We become members of a family by birth, marriage, class into small groups
adoption, or living together. 3.Allocate one question to
each group for discussion.4.
4. Report back.
The following issues could also be raised in the discussion: 5. Summarise
6. General discussion
1. What are the different types of family arrangements?

Extended families: children, their parents, and sometimes grandparents, uncles, aunts and
cousins all living together in one home or in small communities on farms or in small villages.

Nuclear families: A nuclear family is one where just the parents and their children live together
without other relatives.

2. What benefit to society do families provide? Answers could include:

 An orderly setting for sexual conduct.
 Child birth in a stable and economically secure environment.
 Socialization and moral and physical development.
 Companionship and psychological support in times of need.
 Economic security and potential for dividing responsibilities for obtaining income,
looking after the home and child rearing.
 A form of insurance because members of a family can help each other in sickness,
accidents, old age, poverty etc..
Marriage

What does marriage means?

It is a legal contract between a man and a woman creating civil rights and obligations
between them Marriage has many aspects: personal, social, economic and legal. The
legal aspects of marriage are discussed below.

What are the requirements of a valid marriage?

The marriage must include the following:

Offer and acceptance: The marriage proposal made by the intending spouse and accepted by
the other.

Dower: The husband must undertake to pay dower to the wife, which may be in cash and/ or
kind (e.g., property). It may be prompt (paid immediately) and /or deferred (upon the demand
of wife)

Age of the intending spouses: the bridegroom and bride must have attained the age of 18
years.

[Punjab and Sindh: Both bridegroom and bride must have attained 18 years of age (ref: The
Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2013)]

Solemnization of nikah: It shall be by a registered or licensed nikahkhwa / nikah registrar

Nikahnama

While completing the nikahnama, it must be ensured that:

1) The Nikah Registrar or the person who solemnizes a Nikah shall accurately fill all the
columns of the Nikahnama form with specific answers of the bride or the bridegroom.

2) Whether the husband has given the right of ‘talaq-e-tafeez’ the delegated right of
divorce to the wife.
3) There shall be two eye witnesses at the time of nikah / marriage

4) The nikahnama should be registered by Nikahkhwa at the Union Council or Town

Committee.

5) There shall be two original copies of registered nikahnama - one original copy of
registered nikahnama must be kept with each of the spouses.

What if the marriage is solemnized by an unregistered or unlicensed nikah registrar?

Such person shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend
to three months or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both.

What would be the effect of not completing the nikahnama properly?

If the niakhnama is not completed as required under the law, such person shall be
punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months or
with fine up to Rs.1000/ or both.

[Punjab - Punishment with one month imprisonment or a fine of Rs.25, 000/. [Ref.
“Punjab Muslim Family Laws (Amendment) Act 2015”]

Activity

 Ask the participants about their concept of marriage

 Ask them about the essentials of a marriage, in view of their own knowledge and understanding.
 Select a volunteer to write their responses on the flip chart.
 Initiate discussion on the responses written on the flip chart.
 Share the nikahnama and discuss its key provisions.
 Discuss the instances of the completion of the nikahnama without the consent of the bride and
bridegroom in the community and its effects.
 Discuss the instances of the omission of the registration of marriage in the community and its
affects.
The Nikahnama in Urdu
What is an Invalid Marriage?

1. Under aged or child marriage

The marriage of a boy and a girl below their minimum marriage age of 18 and 16
respectively is called ‘early marriage’. It is a crime.
(Punjab and Sindh: Both bridegroom and bride must have attained 18 years of
age)

How to stop a child marriage?

 The complaint of the early marriage being arranged or is about to be solemnized
may be made to the Union Council.
 The Union Council shall forward the complaint to the Magistrate of First Class.
 The Magistrate will issue notice to the accused for hearing and if satisfied shall issue
injunction against such marriage.

What will happen if the injunction is disobeyed?

The accused shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a
term which may extend to three months, or with fine which may extend to one
thousand rupees, or with both. However, no woman shall be punishable with
imprisonment.

What is the remedy, if the child marriage has taken place?

The law provides that an application relating to a child marriage must be made
within one year of the taking place of the marriage. The application may be
made to be Union Council or by any other authority as may be prescribed by the
provincial government.
The said authority will forward the application to the Magistrate of the first class.
On receipt of the application, the Magistrate shall issue notice to the accused for
 hearing and decide the case.
What is the punishment for contracting or facilitating child marriage?
This is a crime punishable with simple imprisonment which may extend to one
month, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both.
[Punjab: punishment is 6 months imprisonment and fine up to Rs.50,000/ (the Punjab
Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Act, 2015)]
[Sindh: punishment is to the extent of 3 years but not less than 2 year with fine (the
Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2013)]

Who shall be punishable?

The adult bridegroom marrying a minor girl, parent or guardian concerned in an
early marriage and / or any other person in any capacity, lawful or unlawful, who
does any act to promote the marriage or permits it to be solemnized, or
negligently fails to prevent it from being solemnized shall be liable to
punishment under the law.
(Ref. Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929)

Role play:
The members of your group all belong to a traditional family. Sajid is planning the marriage of
his 14 years daughter, Kiran with a rich 50 years old man named Kala Khan, against her wish.
Kala Khan has given allotment papers of a piece of land as consideration to Kiran’s father upon
his commitment of marrying his minor daughter with him.

2. Although,Kiran and her mother are not happy her father, grandfather and her brothers are all
very happy with this marriage. The paralegal present in the ceremony advised the family of the
consequences of marrying a child but it was of no avail. In fact, Kiran’s father threatened to
shoot the paralegal, if he tried to interfere with the family affair. Nikah ceremony took place
despite resistance offered by Kiran and her mother. Rukhsati of bride was scheduled the next
day of the nikah ceremony.
3. After the nikah ceremony, the paralegal took Kiran and her mother to the Chairman of Union
 Council (UC) for filing of the under aged marriage application. The Chairman UC submitted an
application to the Court and the police arrested the culprits at the time of rukhsati for the crime
they had committed.

Role play, follow up questions .

 Discuss the minimum age for marriage under the law.
 Discuss that early marriage is a crime.
 Inform the participants about the punishment for early marriage and who may be punished.
 Discuss the competent authority that can take cognizance of this offence.

2. Forced marriage.
It is a marriage in which a woman is compelled to enter into marriage against her will.
Forced marriage in general and forced marriage by way of badal-i-sulh, wanni, swara
and other such practices and marriage with Holy Qur’an in particular are prohibited,
irrespective of religion, cast and creed of the parties concerned.
The Prevention of Anti-Women Practices (Criminal Law Amendment) Act, 2011 deals
with the offence of forced marriages. It is a non-cognizable (i.e. an offence in which the
police officer may not arrest the accused without warrant), non-bailable, non-
compoundable which means the parties cannot compromise.
Under the law, if a woman is forced into marriage against her will, or given in marriage
by way of badl-e-sulh or married with Holy Qur’an, may file criminal case in the Court of
Magistrate of First Class.
Forced marriage in any form is a punishable crime and any person who has:
 forced a female in marriage against her will, shall be punishment with imprisonment of
three to ten years or with five of one million rupees or both.
 Marriage as badal-i-sulh, shall be punished with imprisonment of three to seven years
and fine of five hundred thousand rupees.
 Marrying a girl with the Holy Quran, shall be punished with imprisonment of three to
ten years, in addition to fine of five hundred thousand rupees.
Review questions on forced marriage:
 Ask the participants about the trend of taking consent of the bride for marriage.
 Discuss the importance of the free will of the bride and bridegroom for the marriage.
 Discuss the modes of forced marriages.
 Encourage the participants to share the incidents of forced marriages in their community.
 Discuss the nature of crime.
 Share information about the competent authority that will decide the case.
 Discuss the punishment for forced marriage under the law.

Second Marriage
No man can contract second marriage except with the previous permission of
the Arbitration Council. [Ref. “Punjab Muslim Family Laws (Amendment) Act
2015”]
A man intending to contract a second marriage shall submit an application to the
Chairman Arbitration Council, stating the reason for contracting the second marriage
and whether the permission of his existing wife or wives has been procured. On receipt
of application, the Chairman shall ask the husband and his wife or wives each to
nominate their representative. If the Chairman is satisfied with the reason(s) he or she
shall grant the permission for contracting second marriage.
The husband shall pay the entire amount of dower (prompt or deferred) due to the
existing wife or wives. If not paid than the same shall be recovered as arrears of and
revenue. On conviction upon complaint, the husband shall be punishable with simple
imprisonment extending up to one year or fine up to Rs.5000/ or both.
[Punjab: if a husband contracts a second marriage without following the due
procedure, shall be punishable with fine to the extent of Rs.500, 000/.]

Problem: The second marriage

Aim: The object of this exercise is to make the learners aware of what are the
legal steps involved (given above) when contracting a second marriage.
 Naila’s husband Shakeel informs her that he will be contracting a second
marriage. She is not happy about this and pleads to him not to, but he ignores
her plea. She meets with a paralegal and asks him for his advice and what she
can do to stop him.

 discuss the legal stages involved if the husband wishes to get married for the second time and
highlight the consequences in the case they are not followed.
 The learners may argue that it is a norm that the husband usually does not seek permission from
the first wife or wives and neither is he penalized for it.
 reporting the matter is a necessary step to ensure that the issue is duly addressed.

Child marriage restraint bill sails through Senate

Amir Wasim 30 Apr 2019

   
0

ISLAMABAD: The Senate on Monday passed a bill seeking to set

minimum age for marriage at 18 amid a noisy protest by the members of
religious parties as an apparently confused Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)
abstained from voting.

As soon as Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani put the Child Marriage Restraint
(Amendment) Bill 2018 moved by Sherry Rehman of the Pakistan Peoples
Party (PPP) after a debate, the members belonging to the Jamiat Ulema-i-
Islam (JUI-F) and Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) first staged a walkout and then returned
to the house and held a noisy protest in front of the chairman’s dais.

The JUI-F and JI senators termed it an un-Islamic bill which, according to them,
is against Shariah. They were of the view that the bill on such an important
issue should have been referred to the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) before
being presented before the house for passage.

Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri also opposed the bill,
saying two similar bills had been presented by Dr Attiya Inayatullah and Marvi
Memon in the National Assembly in the recent past and both of them had
withdrawn their bills when the CII termed them un-Islamic.

Religious parties hold noisy protest; ruling PTI abstains from

vote
Giving his opinion, Leader of the House in the Senate Shibli Faraz said he was
unable to decide whether to support or oppose the bill, adding that in his
opinion the issue mostly related to social and cultural values rather than
religion. Criticising the functioning of the CII, he said its members were also
unclear and unable to take a clear stance on the matter.

Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri of the JUI-F said there was no mention of the
age for Nikah (solemnisation of marriage) in Islam which had declared that
anyone after attaining the age of puberty became eligible for marriage. He
said the age of puberty was different for different people and, therefore, they
could not set any age limit for allowing marriages. He said a Nikah after its
solemnisation could not be declared invalid and, therefore, it would be
unjustified to punish the parents for arranging the marriage.

Senator Mushtaq Ahmed of the JI said that even ulema were against early
child marriages, but the definition that “any person below the age of 18 is a
child” as given in the bill was against Shariah. Quoting a report, he said 12,000
women and 16,700 children died in a year during deliveries not because of
early marriages but because of lack of health facilities and malnutrition.

Speaking in support of the bill, PPP Senator Raza Rabbani said that a similar
law had already been passed by the Sindh Assembly and no political party or
individual had ever challenged it in any court of law.
Sherry Rehman said the bill had been unanimously passed by the house
committee where it was supported by the PTI and the PML-N. She said the bill
was not contrary to Islam as a number of Islamic countries had already
declared the 18-year-age for marriage. She gave the examples of Turkey,
Oman, the UAE, Bangladesh, Morocco and Egypt in this regard.

She said even the Saudi Shura had recently recommended that age of puberty
should be 18. Moreover, she added, the Al-Azhar University of Egypt had also
issued a decree in this regard. She asked as to why there were juvenile laws
and why they did not allow anyone below the age of 18 to cast vote and get
national identity card before attaining the age of 18.

Ms Rehman said her bill would also help curb the incidents of child labour.

Former Senate chairman and legal wizard Farooq H. Naek highlighted the
legal aspects of the bill, saying there had been no Quranic text available in
support of the arguments given by the religious parties. He said Islam allowed
them to hold Ijtehad (broad-based consultations) on any matter. He explained
that the bill was not declaring the early marriages as invalid, but it suggested
punishment only to those who would be responsible for arranging it.

PML-N’s Mushahidullah Khan also supported the bill and said that Islam is a
beautiful and a universal religion for all the time and that’s why it has called
for Ijtehad on any controversial matter.

The chairman allowed the passage of the bill amid noisy protest by the
members of the JUI-F and JI and desk-thumping by the PPP and PML-N
senators.

The Senate also passed the Exit from Pakistan (Control) (Amendment) Bill 2018
and the Banking Companies (Amendment) Bill 2018 moved by Mr Rabbani.

The first bill makes it binding upon the federal government to “specify the
grounds on which the order (to place someone’s name on the ECL) is
proposed to be made and shall communicate such grounds within 24 hours of
the making of the order to the person or class of persons prohibited” and if
the government fails to do so, its order shall lapse after 14 days.
Mr Rabbani termed the passage of the Banking Companies (Amendment) Bill
“historic”, saying that after its passage from parliament, bank employees
would be allowed to carry out trade union activities which had been banned
by the PML-N government in 1997.

The members also held a debate on the issue of population control. When a
majority of the lawmakers expressed concern over the rapid increase in
population and called for taking steps to control it, the members of the
religious parties opposed the idea, terming it against the Islamic
fundamentals.

The Senate also unanimously passed a resolution condemning “the despicable

act of terrorism in the two mosques of Christchurch in New Zealand”.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2019

The Express Tribune

Eliminating child marriage

This debate goes to the heart of the social divide in Pakistan

Dr Rashid Javed/Dr Mazhar MughalOctober 28, 2019

 PHOTO: Reuters

Marriage before the age of 18 has long been recognised as harmful for the growth and development of
women. The expert body that monitors the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women stipulates 18 years as the minimum age for marriage both for males and females. While
most of the countries have outlawed under-age marriage, Pakistan is yet to pass a law making the
practice illegal by raising the minimum age at marriage for girls from the current 16 years.

Earlier this year, the Senate passed the Child Marriage Restraint Amendment Bill (2019). The National
Assembly has since been unable to pass the legislation that would make child marriage a criminal act
punishable by imprisonment for up to three years, a fine of at least Rs100,000 or both. But opinion in
the house remains sharply divided with the more traditional members strongly opposing the bill.

The debate goes to the heart of the social divide in the country and can be clearly seen in the differences
in opinion within the country’s main centrist party, the ruling PTI. The opposition to the bill stems from
the argument that Islamic laws do not explicitly define the minimum age of marriage for Muslim men
and women, and doing it would be against the Shariah. Never mind the fact that the law applicable
today, which was first passed in 1929 and vehemently advocated for by Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali
Jinnah, stipulates a minimum age at marriage for both men and women. Besides, laws banning child
marriage already exist in several Muslim countries and are authorised by Muslim jurists and scholars.

Legislating the marriage age certainly has its merits, but lessons from the changing situation on the
ground may help in providing a way forward. As late as the early 1990s, more than half of ever-married
women in the country had got married before turning 18.

According to the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS), this proportion has dropped to under
40% within a generation. The majority of Pakistani young women today are getting married between the
ages of 18 and 25 years. The shift has been led by changing social trends in urban areas, whereas child
marriage still remains more common in rural areas particularly among poor households. The extremely
poor, predominantly rural profile of these women living mostly in impoverished localities of the country
should precisely be the target of the poverty alleviation projects being launched and expanded under
the government’s Ehsas Programme.

One set of measures that could be undertaken under the programme relates to education of women.
Hardly 13% of women who marry before the age of 18 have completed primary education whereas two
out of three (67%) of every child bride received no schooling.

Promoting education among girls can help people come out of poverty while at the same time reducing
the incidence of child marriage. The objective should be to provide girls equal right to education, equal
right in education, and equal right through education.

This will not only require making schools available for girls at accessible distances but also ensuring safe
transportation as well as provision of water and sanitation at schools.

A more direct intervention could be to offer the girls or their parents in impoverished areas monetary or
in-kind gifts for completing secondary education. Giving incentives to complete secondary education not
only helps girls attain more awareness and acquire skill useful in the job market but also contributes to
lowering monetary pressure on parents worrying about their dowry and wedding expenses.

Another step could be to create opportunities for girls to acquire vocational and technical training. This
would help provide girls better employment prospects and will have the beneficial consequence of
reducing the probability of girls getting married before 18. The measure would also be in sync with the
objectives of the ambitious Prime Minister Youth Programme that is currently being launched.

Child marriage in Pakistan

The practice of child marriage is prevalent in Pakistan. It disproportionately affects the
girl child. Defined as marriage before the age of 18 years, child marriage is widespread
in Pakistan and linked to spousal violence. Child marriage occurs most often in rural
and low-income households where education is minimal.

Causes for Child Marriages[

Early and child marriage are directly attributable to deep-rooted gender
inequalities, traditional practices, and customs.
The close relationship between female chastity and family honour forces family
members to marry girls at an early age to prevent sexual transgressions and
consequent damage to family reputation. The conceptualization of the girl child as
‘other’s property’ who has to eventually move to her husband’s home prevents parents
from investing in their daughter’s education and daughters thus are married off at an
early age to relieve parents of their ‘burden'.
The problem of child marriage is at times justified on the basis of religious
foundations. Historically, it can be explained as a reaction to invasions by foreigners;
desire to perpetuate the cult of the family by marrying the son early; by marrying the
daughter early to escape the discredit caused to the family by the presence of grown-up
maiden; or by desire of the mother to marry her son early so that she may sooner obtain
the possession of a daughter-in-law in whom the mother could inculcate her habits of
obedience and who could share the domestic chores with the mother. In the case of
parents, sometimes it is due to their keenness to relieve themselves of the responsibility
of marrying their daughter. They are also considered socially acceptable for reasons of
responsibility and economically desirable for saving marriage expenses, bride price/
dowry.
In certain peculiar situations, it takes place under what is known as dand or bada in
Sindh, vani in Punjab, and swara in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the tribal areas. [c] In this
practice, an accused family gives its girl or girls in marriage to an aggrieved family to
settle a blood feud between the two parties.
In addition to being covered by the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929, such marriages
are also covered by section 310-A of the PPC (Pakistan Penal Code 1860), and are
liable to be imprisoned up to a term of seven years but not less than three years and
liable to a fine of Rs 500,000.
At times, women and girl children are deprived of their property rights by symbolically
marrying them to the Quran. This ensures that the girl child will not bear children in the
future and will not demand her rightful share in the family property. Sometimes poor
parents who cannot afford to marry their daughters rely on this symbolic arrangement. [1]
Section 498-C of the PPC prohibits marriage with the Quran. A person found guilty of
arranging, facilitating or compelling such marriage of a female is liable imprisoned for a
period extending to seven years but not less than three years and a fine of up to Rs
500,000.
Exchange marriage or Watta Satta is also practiced in many parts of Pakistan. [ In a
watta satta arrangement, both families trade brides. Both families must have a daughter
and a son and must be willing to betroth them to the daughter and son of the other
family. Watta satta marriages put females in a precarious position as a divorce between
one of the couples may trigger a divorce between the other couple because of strong
sibling ties. Such marriages are a crime if child marriages are involved in the
arrangement.
Section 498-B of the PPC prohibits forces marriages and makes it an offense,
punishable with imprisonment extending to seven years but not less than three years
and liable to a fine of Rs 500,000.
Generally, a person accused of deceitfully preventing a woman from inheriting property
is punishable under section 498-A of the PPC with an imprisonment extending to ten
years but not less than five years and a fine of rupees one million or both. [8]
Another custom in Pakistan, called swara or vani, involves village elders solving family
disputes or settling unpaid debts by marrying off girls. The average marriage age
of swara girls is between 5 and 9 .Similarly, the custom of watta satta has been citedas
a cause of child marriages in Pakistan.

Statistics
According to UNICEF report from 2013, around 12% of the girls in Pakistan are married
before the age of 18.
Over the years, there has been a decline in the occurrence of child marriages but it is
lower in case of females than males. The trend of child marriages has been a major
cause of girls' illiteracy or lower level of education. It can also damage the girls physical,
mental and social health leading to serious health issues in the future. Prenatal,
neonatal, and maternal health problems are also tied to women married before the age
of 18. It is also evident that child marriages are widely prevalent among cultivators and
laborers. Dependency on elders and lack of independent occupational aspirations or
occupational mobility further hampers the efforts of limiting child marriages. There are,
however, spatial trends as indicated by different trends of distinct villages. Exposure to
urban areas has helped in reduction of child marriage; and finally, realization of bad
effects of child marriages has positive relationship with reduction in child marriage
indicating thereby a positive role of general understanding and awareness which is
spreading quite fast.
The possibility of mismatches of marriages is high. Infants born to the child mothers are
many times feeble. The marital lives remain unhappy and child wives lack happiness
due to their life-time inability to support their lot. Many a times, the young wives become
vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases. The occurrence results in increasing the
population growth rate.

The Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929

Child marriage in Pakistan is legally prohibited to an extent under the Child Marriage
Restraint Act 1929 (No XIX). Under the Act, the minimum age for marriage was 18
years for a male and 16 years for a female (section 2). However, under a new bill
passed in Pakistani Senate, the minimum age of marriage for female was increased to
18. Contravention is punishable with a fine of Rs.1000 and an imprisonment of one
month or both for

 An adult male (above 18 years of age) who contracts marriage with a child (section 4).
 A person who solemnizes a child marriage (section 5).
 A parent or guardian who does not act to prevent a child marriage (section 6)
The 1929 Act is one of those few laws on the statute books that were introduced by the
founder of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, while he was a member of the British India
Legislative Assembly. It was passed on October 1, 1929, to restrain the solemnization
of child marriages and applied to the whole of India effective April 1, 1930. It still
remains in force, and extends to the whole of Pakistan. It applies to, both Muslim and
Non-Muslim, citizens of Pakistan, and regardless of whether they are resident in
Pakistan or elsewhere.
Prior to the 1929 Act, the Age of Consent Act in 1892 was enacted which laid down the
age below which a marriage should not be consummated. Child marriages however
continued unabated. It was in order to control this menace that the 1929 Act was
enacted. The purpose of the Act, as its title signifies, is to restrain the solemnization of
child marriages. Child was originally defined in the Act to mean a "person who, if a
male, is under 14 years of age, and if a female, is under 12 years of age." The age was
subsequently raised. The Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961 (No VIII) effective July
15, 1961, raised the age of girl child in the Act from 14 to 16 years of age; and lowered
the age of male from 21 to 18 years to the extent of the Muslim citizens; this means that
the age for the non-Muslim citizens remains the same as prior to the 1961 Amendment.
The Act, after being amended by the 1961 Ordinance, states that, whoever being a
male above 18 years of age, contracts a marriage with a girl child of less than 16 years,
shall be punishable with simple imprisonment extending up to one month, or with fine
extending up to Rs 1000, or with both.
Additionally whoever performs, conducts or directs any child marriage, defined as
marriage to which either of the contracting parties is a child, is punishable with simple
imprisonment extending up to one month, or fine extending up to Rs 1000, or with both,
unless he proves that he had reason to believe that the marriage was not a child
marriage. Similarly, any person having charge of the minor contracting a child marriage,
whether as parent or guardian or in any other capacity, lawful or unlawful,

 who does any act to promote the marriage; or

 permits it to be solemnized; or
 negligently fails to prevent it from being solemnized;
is punishable with simple imprisonment extending up to one month, or with, fine
extending up to Rs 1000, or with both, provided that no woman is punishable with
imprisonment. For purposes of this section of the Act, it will be presumed under law,
unless and until the contrary is proved, that where a minor has contracted a child
marriage, the person having charge of such minor has negligently failed to prevent the
marriage from being solemnized.No court other than Magistrate of the first class can
take cognizance of, or try, any offense under the Act. However even he cannot take
cognizance after the expiry of one year from the date on which the offense is alleged to
have been committed; and unless, except in Punjab, a complaint is made by the union
council within whose jurisdiction a child marriage is or is about to be solemnized, or if
there is no union council in the area by such authority as the provincial government may
in this behalf prescribe.
In cases where the court is satisfied from information laid before it through a complaint
or otherwise that a child marriage has been arranged or is about to be solemnized, the
court may issue an injunction against any of male contracting the marriage; or the
persons involved in the performance, conduct or direction of the child marriage; or the
persons having charge of the minor whether as parent or guardian or in any other
capacity whether lawful or unlawful. No injunction, however, can be issued unless the
court has previously given notice to the person concerned, and has afforded him an
opportunity to show cause against the issue of the injunction. Such an injunction order
can also be rescinded or altered by the court. Disobedience of the injunction order is
punishable with imprisonment extending up to three months, or with fine extending up to
Rs 1000, or with both, provided that no woman can be punished under this section of
the Act.

Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Bill, 2018

In 2019, a bill introduced by Pakistani senator, Sherry Rehman, was passed in the
Pakistani Senate to increase the minimum age of marriage for female to 18. The bill
was aimed at ending child marriage in Pakistan. The bill was passed with overwhelming
majority. However, some Pakistani religious political parties like Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam
(JUI-F) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) opposed the bill. The parties claimed that the bill was
against Islam. However, the senator Sherry Rehman said that the Muslim countries
like Oman, Turkey and United Arab Emirates have already set 18 as the minimum age
of marriage.
One of the senators, Raza Rabbani, stated that a similar bill Sindh Child Marriage
Restraint Act 2013 was passed in Sindh assembly back in 2014 and it was not
challenged by anyone at any forum.