Full text of IHC’s Babar Sattar verdict: Marriage of girls aged less than 18 declared illegal

Islamabad: In a landmark ruling, Islamabad High Court’s Justice Babar Sattar on Tuesday declared marriage of girls aged less than 18 an illegal agreement.

He observed that a girl below the age of 18 cannot marry of her own free will.

Commenting on the verdict, legal expert Reema Omer said, “The conclusions in J. Babar Sattar’s very significant judgment on child marriage provides some much-needed clarity in our otherwise inconsistent jurisprudence, with courts often ignoring the law and relying on certain interpretations of shariah to declare child marriage lawful.”

Below is the full text of the IHC verdict arguing why underage girls should not married: