Overview

• Hamid Raza was granted bail after more than 11 months in custody, with the court noting that police failed to furnish written grounds of arrest, violating Article 22(1) and Section 47 of the BNSS.
• The judge said the validity of the Islamic marriage cannot be decided at the bail stage and treated the relationship as at least consensual and akin to a live-in arrangement based on the couple’s stated ages.
• The court stressed that Muslim personal law cannot override POCSO or the BNS and asked whether it is time to move toward a Uniform Civil Code to avoid criminal exposure for community practices.
• Serious irregularities were flagged, including an FIR purportedly filed by the mother but signed by a stepfather who is himself on trial for sexually assaulting the prosecutrix, and conflicting records about the prosecutrix’s age.
• The court highlighted trial delays and pressed for legislative clarity to harmonize personal laws with child-protection statutes and to curb misuse of criminal provisions.