LAHORE: The Punjab Child Marriage Restraint Bill 2026 sailed through the Standing Committee on Local Government & Community Development notwithstanding the reservations of a couple of members, including the committee chairman.

Members of the women’s caucus had also been invited as special observers to the committee meeting held here on Monday with Pir Ashraf Rasool in the chair.

The bill sets 18 years as the minimum legal age of marriage for both boys and girls across Punjab, abolishing the earlier provision that permitted the marriage of girls at the age of 16.

It further declares child marriage a cognisable, non-bailable, and non-compoundable offence, enabling immediate police action and preventing any private settlement of such cases.

Marriage age raised to 18 years; facilitators to face jail, fine

Under the proposed law, any person involved in facilitating child marriage, including the adult spouse, parents or guardians, Nikah registrars, or any other facilitator, may face up to seven years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to Rs1 million.

The law also categorises cohabitation after such marriage as child abuse, carrying stricter punishment, and directs that all such cases be decided by the courts within 90 days.

The committee observed that the bill aims to eliminate underage marriages, remove gender-based discrimination, and strengthen child protection laws in Punjab.

The committee further directed the local government secretary to prepare the final draft of the rules under this bill and present it before the committee within 60 days for final approval by the committee.

Committee Chairman Pir Ashraf Rasool and member Zulfiqar Shah opposed the bill, citing it being in violation of the Constitution.

Mr Rasool submitted his three-page reservations in writing but neither read these out nor shared them with any committee member or media after the meeting.

However, MPA Shah told Dawn that the bill is in contravention of the Constitution that allows every citizen to practice his/her religion freely and that under Islamic law marriage is permissible when one attains puberty.

He sought exceptions in the implementation of the proposed law arguing that socio-economic conditions of the parents of the under-age bride should also be kept in mind. He said poor parents tend to marry their daughters early; they have resources neither for provisions nor safety of the girls.

He suggested incorporating exceptions into the marriage age provision like in Bangladesh, while others objected that the exceptions lead to misuse of the law.

Mr Shah pledged to fight the case in the House too by submitting an amendment to the bill.

The meeting was also attended by the minister for local government and community development.

At the outset of the meeting, Fateha was offered for the sister of Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, for former governor of Punjab Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khosa, and for Sardar Ali Hussain Khan Baloch.

Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2026