The HC bench directed the woman's husband to transfer 10 acres land in her name, open a fixed deposit (FD) account with Rs 7 lakh for her and ensure that she finishes her education.
In an interesting development, the Bombay High Court, on Monday, has held that the marriage of a 56-year-old advocate with a minor girl is valid after she expressed her willingness to live with him after turning 18. The court’s rationale was that “no one in the society would accept her as wife” and securing her future was of concern now. A division bench of Justice Ranjit More and Justice Bharati Dangre said this in its judgment, last week, while hearing a petition filed by the advocate seeking to quash a rape case lodged against him for marrying the girl when she was just 14.
The complainant, who is now 18 years' old, got "married" to the advocate, then aged 52, in 2014. In her complaint, she alleged that she was forced into the marriage by her grandparents.
The advocate was subsequently in judicial custody for around 10 months and then released on bail. The girl turned 18 on September 17, 2018, after which the advocate moved HC, seeking quashing of the case.
The woman last week filed an affidavit in the HC saying she has settled the dispute and wants to now cohabit with her husband, and hence, has no objection for the case to be quashed. Additional Public Prosecutor Aruna Kamat Pai opposed the petition, saying quashing such a case would set a bad precedent and send a wrong signal to the public at large.The bench, in its order of May 2, however, noted that it was concerned about the woman's welfare. "Undisputedly, she was a minor at the time of her marriage with the accused but now she has become major and has expressed her willingness to cohabit with the accused person," the court said in its order."Since the complainant is ready to cohabit with the petitioner (advocate) as his legally wedded wife, the marriage, which otherwise is voidable, becomes valid," the court said.“We are also of the opinion that ultimately the complainant (woman) will suffer if the subject case is allowed to go on as she is now married and no one in the society would accept her as wife, and we think that at this stage securing her future is of prime importance," it said.
The bench directed the woman's husband to transfer 10 acres land in her name, open a fixed deposit (FD) account with Rs 7 lakh for her and ensure that she finishes her education. The bench directed the police not to take any steps towards probing in the case.