On 02-07-2021, the Honourable Lahore High Court, Rawalpindi Bench, directed the concerned Union Council to lodge a criminal complaint against a man who had forcibly married a minor girl as well as against the Nikahkhwan and the witnesses of Nikah.
A man, with the help of his friends, abducted the minor niece of his former wife and managed to register a so-called Nikah (marriage) with her in the Union Council. It is an offence under the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929, to marry or to facilitate marriage of a minor. However, under the 1929 Act, prosecution of the accused could only take place if the concerned Union Council made a complaint to the relevant court. In this case, despite repeated requests of the mother of the minor, the Union Council refused to lodge a complaint against the accused.
Ch. Imran Hassan Ali represented the minor girl and her mother before the High Court in a petition seeking a direction to the Union Council to make the complaint.
On behalf of the accused and the Union Council, it was argued that the Union Council had a discretion in the matter. However, the Court disagreed and held that it was obligatory for the Union Council to lodge a complaint before the relevant court for prosecution of the persons accused of violating provisions of the 1929 Act.
The judgment has since been reported at PLD 2021 Lahore 783.