New Delhi: A Muslim girl above the age of 15 years can marry any man of her choice and her marriage will be considered valid. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has given this decision on Friday (October 28) while hearing a case. With this, the court has allowed a 16-year-old girl to live with her husband. According to the law, it is a crime to marry a girl under the age of 18 in India, disobeying which the girl's parents can also be jailed. But only Muslims are exempted.  

A division bench of Justice Vikas Bahl was hearing a habeas corpus petition by a person named Javed. In this, an appeal was made to allow his 16-year-old wife to live with him. Right now the girl has been kept in a children's home in Panchkula, Haryana. The petitioner had said that his wife was more than 16 years of age at the time of his marriage. This marriage took place on her own free will and without any pressure. The petitioner, through his counsel, had said that both are Muslims and they had married on July 27 at a mosque in Mani Majra here.

The petitioner's counsel relied on the judgment of the coordination bench of the high court in Yunus Khan vs State of Haryana, arguing that the girl should be allowed to live with the petitioner. However, the state counsel opposed the plea and said since she was a minor, she was being kept at Ashiana Home. The state's counsel had appealed for dismissal of the petition.

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