Sharda Act or the Child Marriage Restraint Act was a legislative act passed on 28 September 1929.

Overview

The act fixed the age of marriage for girls (14) and boys (18) years and after its sponsor, the act came to popularly known as Sharda Act. At present, the age of marriage changed to 18 and 21 years for girls and boys after passing the legislation of 2006.

Formation

When people realise the pain of a girl being married and after that, she had to went through the pregnancy process in which most girls die became unrealistic to society. The All India Women’s Conference and Women’s Indian Association and National Council of Women in India raised their voice toward bringing the law that can restrict people from doing such criminal activity. Including these groups of women, Muslim Women also submitted their opinion to the Joshi Committee in favor of raising the age limit of marriage.

The Joshi Committee submitted its report on 20 June 1929 which was passed by the imperial legislative Council on 28 September 1929 and finally on 1 April 1930 the act became law with the approval of Lord Irwin.

Some Significance points of the Child Restraint Marriage Act 1929

• It was the first such social reform issue taken up by the organized women representing a group.
• The women group also represented the list of acquittal (207) and about 87 cases still pending during August 1932. Out of 167 finally prosecuted, only 17 and more did either all of or part of their sentence.
• As a result, the act remained a dead letter during the colonial period of British Rule in India.
• All the women pressured the politicians to pass the act by picketing their delegations, holding placards, and shouting slogans.

The act had its limitation after which it was inapplicable and most probably in the section of people residing far away from the Act. In my opinion, the best way to escape from this mindset is through education. 

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