New Delhi, March 27: One hurdle to curbing child marriages lies in the laws themselves, the Supreme Court acknowledged today.

A thicket of laws differ over the minimum age for marriage, the definition of a child and the age of consent for sex, offering loopholes to accused.

The apex court, therefore, sought the Law Commission’s help to sort out the mess and issued notices to the Centre and the Delhi government.

Petitioners National Commission for Women and the Delhi Commission for Women had cited that while the Child Marriage (Restraint) Act, 1929, fixed the marriageable age at 18 for girls and 21 for boys, the Shariat validated the marriage of a girl above 15.

The 146-year-old Indian Penal Code puts the age of consent for sex at 16 (which makes even consensual sex with a girl below that age an offence of rape), but adds that sex with one’s wife above 15 is not rape. This, in a sense, legalises marriages of girls above 15, the petitioners argued.

The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, prescribes punishment (15 days’ jail) for marrying a girl under 18; but though it deems such marriages an offence, it doesn’t make them invalid. Rather, the act virtually legalises the marriage of a girl below 15 (say, at age 12) by providing her the option to seek “divorce” between the age of 15 ? when she attains the age of discretion ? and 18.

Also, though Section 5 of the act fixes the marriageable age (18 for girls and 21 for boys), Section 11 ? which deals with the grounds for making a marriage void, such as bigamy ? does not include “underage” on the list.

Similarly, the Child Marriage (Restraint) Act is mum on whether such marriages are valid, though it prescribes punishment for the groom, the families and the priest.

Another mess relates to the definition of a child. While the Indian Majority Act, 1875, says anyone above 18 is a “major”, the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1986, tags those under 16 as children and those between 16 and 18 as minors. The Child Labour (Prevention and Regulation) Act, 1986, defines a child as anyone under 14 while the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, raises the mark to 18.

The petitioners said international conventions obligated the government to protect children. The International Convention on Population and Development Programme of Action calls upon governments to end child marriages; and the Convention on Rights of Child defines children as those under 18.

The petitioners asked the apex court to set aside recent Delhi and Andhra Pradesh High Court judgments validating the marriages of under-18 girls in the absence of a uniform law on the subject.

Delhi High Court had on October 5 last year upheld the validity of two such marriages on the ground that a boy and a girl could get married if they attained the age of discretion.

Today, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Y.K. Sabharwal restrained lower courts from relying on these high court judgments till the matter was disposed of. The interim stay, however, would not affect the status of the couples.