Why in News ?The Himachal Pradesh legislative assembly has recently passed a Bill to raise the minimum age for marriage for women from 18 to 21 years.

• The Bill, Prohibition of Child Marriage (Himachal Pradesh Amendment) Act, 2024, seeks to amend the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.
• The Bill states that , It is proposed to amend the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 and other related Acts in their application to the State of Himachal Pradesh and increase the minimum age for marriage for girls to 21 years.
• The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 was enacted to provide for the prohibition of solemnisation of child marriages.
• As per the same, the minimum age of marriage for women is 18 while it is 21 for men.
• The Himachal bill has sought to raise the minimum age of marriage for women to 21 with a view to ensure gender equality and taking into account the fact that early marriage acts as a hindrance to women’s progress in professional career and physical development.

The bill says that In today’s world the women are progressing in every field. The early marriages, however, act as a hindrance not only in the progress of their career but also in their physical development.

In order to provide for gender equality and opportunities of obtaining higher education, it has become necessary to increase the minimum age of marriage for the girls.

Amendments in the 2024 Bill are as follows:

Under Section 2, the definition of a child would include any male or female who has not completed the age of 21 years; previously, it was 18 years.

Section 3(3) has been amended to extend the period for annulment of a marriage below the legal age from two years to five years after reaching adulthood.

• “The petition under this section may be filed at any time but before the child filing the petition completes two years of attaining majority,” the Bill states.
• The Bill has also introduced Section 18A, which establishes the overriding effect of the Act, meaning that this law will take precedence over any other existing laws.
• “The provisions of this Act shall have effect, notwithstanding anything contrary or inconsistent therewith contained in any other law for the time being in force, including any custom or usage or practice governing the parties,” the provision states.