Overview

• Justice Arun Monga said the recurring clash arises because puberty-based marriages treated as valid in Muslim personal law can make husbands offenders under POCSO or the BNS.
• Regular bail was granted to Hamid Raza, with the court declining to decide the marriage’s validity and noting that the couple’s relationship appeared consensual.
• Records on the woman’s age conflicted across documents, so the court held that age determination must be left to trial.
• The FIR was signed by the stepfather—himself in custody for allegedly raping her and fathering her first child—which the court said cast grave doubt on the complaint’s bona fides.
• The court flagged arrest irregularities and delay violating fair-trial rights, consulted Islamic law experts and an amicus, and proposed a middle path that standardizes core protections such as prohibiting child marriage with penal consequences.