The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 (PCMA) is a Central Act of Parliament, enacted to prohibit the solemnisation of child marriages in India and provide relief to victims. It received Presidential assent on January 10, 2007, and came into force on November 1, 2007, replacing the colonial-era Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 (also known as the Sarda Act). The problem the PCMA solved was the weak deterrence of the 1929 Act, which merely "restrained" child marriage by penalising adults but left the marriage itself perfectly valid. The PCMA shifted the legislative goal from restraint to outright prohibition.
The Act defines a "child" as a male below 21 years and a female below 18 years. A key mechanism is that every child marriage is voidable at the option of the contracting party who was a child, provided they file a petition for annulment in the District Court within two years of attaining majority. However, a child marriage is void ab initio (null and void from the beginning) under Section 12 if the child was taken by force, enticement, or deceit, or sold or trafficked for the purpose of marriage. The Act mandates the appointment of Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (Section 16) for enforcement and community sensitisation. Penalties for an adult male marrying a child, or for any person performing or promoting a child marriage, include imprisonment up to two years and a fine up to ₹1 lakh.
The PCMA is a special, secular law that overrides personal laws like the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and the Special Marriage Act, 1954, on the question of penalties and annulment. It connects to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, and the Supreme Court's ruling in Independent Thought v. Union of India (2017), which clarified that sexual intercourse with a wife under 18 constitutes rape.
The Act has not been amended recently, but the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021, was introduced to raise the minimum marriageable age for females from 18 to 21 years, bringing it at par with men. This Bill, which would also amend personal laws, was referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee and remains pending.