Raising Minimum Marriageable Age for Muslim Women - The Hindu - 12/12/22

Context:
Recently, the Supreme Court asked the government to respond to a plea filed by the National Commission for Women (NCW) to raise the minimum age of marriage for Muslim women to be on par with persons belonging to other faiths.
Relevance:
GS2 - Issues related woman
About:
--->Legal Framework of Minimum Age for Marriage:-
Background: In India, the minimum age of marriage was prescribed for the first time by the law known as the Sarda Act, 1929. It was later renamed as the Child Marriage Restraint Act (CMRA), 1929. In 1978, the CMRA was amended to raise the minimum age of marriage to 18 years for girls and 21 years for boys.
This position remains the same even in the new law called the Prohibition of Child Marriages Act (PCMA), 2006, which replaced the CMRA ,1929.

Current: For Hindus, the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 sets 18 years as the minimum age for the bride and 21 years as the minimum age for the groom. In Islam, the marriage of a minor who has attained puberty is considered valid. The Special Marriage Act, 1954 and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 also prescribe 18 and 21 years as the minimum age of consent for marriage for women and men, respectively. For the new age of marriage to be implemented, these laws are expected to be amended.
In 2021, the Union Cabinet proposed to raise the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 years.

Issues with Underage Marriages of Women:
-Human Rights Violation
-Disempowerment of Women
-Associated Health Issues