The Centre on Wednesday informed the Delhi High Court that a task force has been constituted to study the issue of minimum age of girl entering motherhood.
The Centre's submissions were made during the hearing of a PIL seeking equality in legal age of marriage for men and women.
A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar was informed about Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's recent speech while presenting the Budget in Parliament where she discussed the issue of age of girls entering motherhood.
The minister had said in her speech, "Women's age of marriage was increased from fifteen years to eighteen years in 1978, by amending erstwhile Sharda Act of 1929. As India progresses further, opportunities open up for women to pursue higher education and careers.
"There are imperatives of lowering maternal mortality rate (MMR) as well as improvement of nutrition levels. Entire issue about age of a girl entering motherhood needs to be seen in this light. I propose to appoint a task force that will present its recommendations in six months' time."
The court granted more time to the Centre to file its response to the petition which says the minimum age limit of 18 years for a woman to get married amounts to "blatant discrimination" and listed the matter for further hearing on May 28.
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Men in India are permitted to get married at the age of 21.
Petitioner and advocate Ashwini Upadhyay said the plea has been filed raising a legal question and forming a task force will not serve the purpose. He said it is a matter concerning right to equality guaranteed under Article 14 of the Constitution.
The high court had earlier sought response from the Centre on the PIL by the BJP leader claiming that the difference in minimum age of marriage for men and women was based on patriarchal stereotypes and has no scientific backing.
The petition claimed that the difference in marriage age violates the principles of gender equality, gender justice and dignity of women.
"The petition challenges a blatant, ongoing form of discrimination against women. That is the discriminatory minimum age limit for marriage for men and women in India.
"While men in India are permitted to get married only at the age of 21 years, women are allowed to get married when they are 18. This distinction is based in patriarchal stereotypes, has no scientific backing, perpetrates de jure and de facto inequality against women, and goes completely against global trends," the petition contended.
It said "it is a social reality" that married women are expected to perform a subordinate role vis--vis the husband and this "power imbalance" is deeply aggravated by the age difference.
"A younger spouse is, therefore, expected to respect and be servile to her elder partner, which aggravates the pre-existing gender based hierarchy in the marital relationship," the petition stated.
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