It has been claimed in the petition that adult suffrage is at 18 years of age, but with the Civil Code, others set a time limit of 20 years for marriage, which is in conflict with the Constitution.
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A writ has been registered in the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court demanding to maintain 18 years from marriage to obtaining citizenship. Senior Advocate Chandrakant Gyawali, Advocates Shyam Narayan Shrestha, Dev Bahadur Bohra and Bimal Gyawali filed the writ in the Constitutional Court on Friday.
It has been claimed in the writ that the constitution states that adult voting rights shall be at the age of 18, but the act of setting a time limit of 20 years for marriage by others along with the civil code is in conflict with the constitution.
Article 1, 46, 84 (5), 176 (5) and 222 (5), 223 (5) of the Constitution of Nepal have a constitutional provision for reaching the age of 18 years, but in Article 70 (1) (d) of the Civil Code 2074, it is against the constitution to specify the age of marriage as twenty years.
In section 72 (1) (c) of the same code, marriages performed under the age of twenty years are automatically annulled and under the title of section 173 of the Civil Crimes Code, 2074 under the heading of child marriages, under sub-section (1) no one should marry or cause a person to marry before the age of twenty years, even marriages that have taken place will be automatically annulled and these provisions are 'ultra virus' with the constitution. It has been claimed in the writ that the legal provision of imprisonment for up to three years and a fine of up to thirty thousand rupees is different from what is envisioned by the constitution. Similarly, the writ mentions that since the legal provision that the age of citizenship should be 16 years old in sub-section 2 of section 8 of the Citizenship Act, 2063 is in direct conflict with the Constitution of Nepal, the said clauses which are in conflict with the constitution mentioned in Article 133 (1) should be declared invalid and void to the extent of the conflict.
According to Article 11 (1) and (2) of the Constitution, it is mentioned that there is a constitutional provision that people who have obtained Nepalese citizenship and who are eligible to obtain citizenship are considered citizens of Nepal on the basis of their descendants and if they want to get a certificate of Nepali citizenship as a descendant, a person who has completed 16 years of age will be considered a citizen of Nepal based on his descendants.
Articles 84 (5), 176 (5) and 222 (5), 223 (5) as well as the constitutional provision of eighteen years of age as an adult have been claimed in the writ.
Section 70 (1) (d), Section 72 (1) (c) of the Civil Code, 2074, Section 173 of the Civil Code, 2074, which provides punishment for child marriage if the child is less than twenty years of age, has been claimed in the writ as raising serious constitutional questions. As there is no uniformity in terms of adults, citizens and children, according to Article 137 (3) of the Constitution of Nepal, in order to maintain the uniformity of age in relation to citizens, adults and marriage rights, in the existing laws, rules and laws in Nepal, taking into consideration the physical and health condition according to the Constitution of Nepal, the age of 18 years is considered to be an adult.
Even if the law is insufficient, Nirajan Poudel, the Supreme Court's right to information, informed that a writ has been filed in the constitutional bench demanding an injunction and other orders in the name of the opposition government of Nepal to create a law to make the age of 18 years of age uniform according to the constitution.
