NCW calls for legislation to codify Muslim personal law related to marriage

The National Commission for Women (NCW) submitted a comprehensive recommendatory report on the rights of Muslim women in India to the Ministry of Home Affair...

What Happened

The National Commission for Women (NCW) submitted a comprehensive recommendatory report on the rights of Muslim women in India to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Women and Child Development, and Ministry of Minority Affairs.
The report called for a legislation to codify Muslim personal law in the domains of marriage, divorce, maintenance, custody, and inheritance.
Key recommendations include: mandatory marriage registration with provisions for free and informed consent, prohibition of child marriage across communities, and regulation of divorce practices to ensure fairness, due process, and equal access to legal remedies for women.
The report recommended financial safeguards — protection of mehr (dower) and matrimonial assets — and adoption of child-centric custody frameworks.
The NCW also recommended simplifying enforcement of inheritance rights and banning exploitative practices such as the "Paaro" system.
The report follows a national-level consultation organised by the NCW in New Delhi on August 1, 2025, attended by legal experts, religious scholars, women's rights groups, and civil society organisations.

Static Topic Bridges

National Commission for Women (NCW)

The NCW is a statutory body established under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990. It functions as an apex national-level organisation to review and safeguard the legal and constitutional rights of women.

Mandate: review existing laws, make recommendations, investigate complaints related to women's rights, conduct research, and submit annual reports to Parliament through the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
Its recommendations are advisory and not binding on the government or courts.
NCW has previously engaged with issues of triple talaq, nikah halala, and polygamy in Muslim personal law.

Connection to this news: The NCW exercised its statutory mandate of recommending legislative reforms by submitting a detailed report urging codification of Muslim personal law — a role explicitly envisaged under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990.

Muslim Personal Law in India

Muslim personal law in India is governed primarily by the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, which directs that in matters of marriage, succession, inheritance, and charities, the rule of decision shall be Muslim personal law (the Shariat).

Unlike Hindu personal law (codified through four Acts in 1955–56), Muslim personal law has not been systematically codified by Parliament; it is applied by courts based on classical jurisprudential texts.
Triple talaq (instantaneous talaq-e-biddat) was criminalised by the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019.
Nikah halala and polygamy remain subject to ongoing constitutional challenges before the Supreme Court.
The Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939 provides grounds on which a Muslim woman may seek divorce from a court.

Connection to this news: The absence of codified Muslim personal law is the central issue the NCW identifies — it creates inconsistency, lack of procedural safeguards, and unequal access to remedies for women seeking relief in family disputes.

Child Marriage — Legal Framework

The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 prohibits marriage of a girl below 18 years and a boy below 21 years. The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021 proposed raising the minimum age for women to 21 years, harmonising it with men, though it was referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee.

Child marriages under the 2006 Act are voidable (not void), meaning they remain valid unless annulled by court order.
Special Marriage Act, 1954 and other codified personal laws explicitly bar child marriages.
India ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1992, which obliges the state to prevent child marriages.

Connection to this news: The NCW's recommendation for prohibition of child marriage in Muslim personal law contexts underscores that the existing Prohibition of Child Marriage Act does not override personal law exemptions in practice, calling for explicit statutory codification.

Mehr (Dower) and Women's Financial Rights in Muslim Marriage

Mehr is an obligatory gift or payment from the husband to the wife upon marriage in Muslim personal law, serving as a form of financial security for the woman. It is enforceable as a debt.

Courts in India have held that mehr is enforceable as a contract debt and cannot be used as a condition to deny the wife maintenance.
In Shamima Farooqui v. Shahid Khan (2015), the Supreme Court held that the obligation to pay more than meagre mehr cannot be considered sufficient maintenance.
Iddat maintenance (post-divorce maintenance for the iddat period) was at the centre of the landmark Shah Bano case (1985), which was subsequently overridden by the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986.
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 was itself read down by the Supreme Court in Danial Latifi v. Union of India (2001) to provide for "reasonable and fair provision" beyond the iddat period.

Connection to this news: The NCW's recommendation to protect mehr and matrimonial assets reflects ongoing concerns that existing legal provisions, while nominally protective, are poorly enforced and inconsistently interpreted.

Key Facts & Data

NCW established under: National Commission for Women Act, 1990.
Report submitted to: Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Minority Affairs.
National consultation: August 1, 2025, New Delhi.
Key practices flagged: absence of codified personal law, child marriage, exploitative divorce practices, the "Paaro" system.
Triple talaq criminalised: Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019.
Governing statute for Muslim personal law: Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937.
Dissolution of marriage for Muslim women: Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939.
NCW's powers: advisory/recommendatory; not legally binding on the executive or judiciary.