Previous Year Question
Sharada Act fixed the minimum age of marriage of girls and boys respectively as
12 and 16
14 and 18
15 and 21
16 and 22
Correct Answer: B
Detailed Solution
The Sharada Act, formally known as the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929, was enacted to restrain child marriages. It came to be popularly known as the Sarda Act after its principal sponsor, Harbilas Sarda.
Under the original Act, the prescribed ages in the context of child marriage were 14 years for girls and 18 years for boys. The Act came into force on 1 April 1930.
The minimum ages were subsequently changed. In 1949, the age for girls was raised from 14 to 15 years, and through the 1978 amendment, it was raised to 18 years for girls and 21 years for boys.
Current Status
The Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 has been repealed by the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006. Under the present law, a male below 21 years and a female below 18 years are treated as children for the purposes of the Act.