‘Law’ signifies a rule applied indiscriminately to all actions. The term “Law’ denotes different kinds of rules and Principles. ‘Law’ denotes the whole process by which organized society, through government bodies and personnel (Law-makers, Courts, Tribunals, Law Enforcement Agencies and Executive, Penal and corrective Institutions etc.) attempt to apply rules and regulations to establish and maintain peaceful and orderly relations amongst the people in the society. There have been conflicting and divergent views of jurists regarding the nature, concept, basis and functions of Law. In this article we shall study relation between law and social changes.

What is Law?

Law is a dynamic concept which changes from time to time and place to place to suit the needs and conditions of a given society which is constantly changing and developing with the advancement of human knowledge and civilization. Generally the term law is used to mean three things:

• First it is used to mean “legal order”. It represents the regime of adjusting relations, and ordering conduct by the systematic application of the force of organized political society.
• Secondly, law means the whole body of legal Percepts which exists in a politically organized society.
• Thirdly, law is used to mean all official control in a politically organized society. This lead to actual administration of Justice as contrasted with the authoritive material for the Guidance of Judicial act

Salmond’s Definition:

According to Salmond “the law may be defined as the body of principles recognized and applied by the state in the administration of Justice.

This definition has some criticism. Salmond did not define the expression Justice. Keeton says what has been considered to be just at one time has frequently not been so considered at another. Dean Roscoe Pound has criticized the definition of Salmond as reducing law to a mass of isolated decisions and the law in that sense to be an organic whole. Further, it is criticized on the ground that Salmond’s definition applies only to lax law not to Statute. Despite criticism, Salmond’s definition is considered as the workable definition.

John chipman Gray’s Definition:

According to Gray, “the Law of the State or of any organized body of men is composed of the rules which the courts, that is the judicial organ of the body lays down for the determination of legal rights and duties.

Gray’s definition is criticized on the Ground that he is not concerned with the nature of law rather than its Purposes and Ends. Further it does not take into account the statute law.

Austin’s definition:

According to John Austin (1790-1859) An English Jurists law is a command of sovereign backed by sanction. He developed logically, a structure of legal system in which he gave no Place to values, morality, idealism and Justice. According to Austin, a law, in the strict sense is a general command of the sovereign individual or the sovereign body. Issued to those in subjectivity and enforced by the physical power of the state. According to Austin “law is aggregate of rules set by men politically superior or sovereign to men as politically subject.” Austin says, “A law is command which obliges a person or persons to a course of conduct.

Austin’s definition of law is subjected to criticism on the ground that it ignores completely the moral and ethical aspects of law and unduly Emphasized the imperative character of law.

William Blackstone’s Definition:

According to Sir William Blackstone (an English jurist and judge of the eighteenth century) ‘Law, in general consists of the rules recognized and acted upon in the court of justice.” In its commentaries, Blackstone said that law, in its most general and comprehensive sense, “is that rule of action which is prescribed by some superior and which the inferior is bound to obey.”

This concept of Blackstone excluded all international laws and constitutional laws. Hence this definition was criticized. In a country like India which is a democratic republic, there is no concept of superior or inferior, all are equal. In a democratic republic sense, the law is a jurisdiction adopted by the sovereign people for their own control, not by some superiors for other inferiors.

Other Definitions:

Holland’s definition:

According to Thomas Erskine Holland, a reputed Jurist, law is a General rule of external human action enforced by a political sovereign. Holland also measures or defines law with preference to sovereign devoid of moral, ethical or ideal elements which are foreign to law and Jurisprudence.

John Erskine definition:

According to John Erskine, Law is the command of a sovereign, containing a common rule of life for his subjects and obliging them to obedience.

Hans Kelsan’s definition:

According to Kelsan legal order is the hierarchy of the norms, every norm derive its validity from the superior norm and finally there is highest norm known as grundnorm.

H. L. A. Hart’s Definition:

According to Hart Law is the combination of primary rules of obligations and secondary rules of recognition.

‘The Law’ and ‘a Law’

‘The law’ means all the laws of the land. Criminal, civil, constitutional, etc. It is a generic description of a large class or body of laws that make up the entire legal framework of a country. Here the term is used in an abstract sense. ‘A law’ means a specific law. It is the subset of the set of all laws. For example ‘Indian Contract Act’, ‘Consumer Protection Act”, etc.

Social Change:

A Change is a a difference in anything observed over some period of time. Change is the rule of society. Generally, a social change or social transformation means the large number of people engaging in group activities and relationships that are different from those in which they or their parents engaged in previously. Social changes or transformations occur due to several factors such as changes in technology, demography and ideology, changes in political life and economic policy and in legal principles or institutions. The law is the most effective instrument of social change but at times social changes becomes law. Thus, Law is a really dynamic instrument designed by society for the purpose of adjustment of sweet human relations by elimination of social tension and conflicts.

Defining Social Change:

• According to Lundberg and others “Social Change refers to any modification in established patterns of inter-human relationship and standards of conduct.
• According to Mazumdar, H.T.- “Social change may be defined as a new fashion or mode, either modifying or replacing the old, in the life of a people, or in the operation of a Society.
• According to Davis, “Social change is meant only for such alterations as occur in social Organisation, that is, structure and functions of Society.”
• According to M.D. Jenson, “Social change may be defined as modification in ways of doing and thinking of people.”
• According to Anderson and Parker, “Social Change involves alteration in the structure or functioning of social forms or processes themselves.

Examples of Social Changes Through Enactment of Acts:

• Abolition of sati system
• Maintenance to Muslim women
• Education as fundamental right
• Public Interest Litigation
• Right to information
• Rights of accused
• Rights of prisoners
• Compulsory registration of marriage
• Abolition of bondage labour system
• Child marriage prevention
• Elimination of child labour
• Special legislations for women
• Special legislations for children
• Special legislations for backward classes
• Rights of transgenders
• Recognition of same sex marriages
• Recognition of Live In Relationship

Abolition of Sati System:

Sati was the practice of the immolation of a Hindu woman on the death of her husband in his funeral pyre. The widow was supposed to ascend to heaven and this was considered the ultimate sacrifice and proof of a woman’s devotion to her husband. Sati practice does not have any Vedic sanction, it had become prevalent in some parts of India. Raja Rammohan Roy, a 19th century moderate leader from Bengal advocated against the cruel practice of the burning of Sati. William Carey, an English missionary also fought against this barbaric practice.

Lord William Bentinck became the Governor-General of India in 1828. He helped Raja Rammohan Roy to suppress many prevalent social evils like Sati, polygamy, child marriage and female infanticide. Lord Bentinck passed the law banning Sati throughout the Company’s jurisdiction in British India. The act was made illegal and punishable by the courts by Sati Regulation XVII A. D. 1829 of the Bengal Code.

Roop Kanwar Case:

On September 4, 1987, in the village of Deorala of Sikar district in Rajasthan, the 18-year-old Roop Kanwar mounted her husband Maal Singh Shekhawat’s funeral pyre and burned to death in its flames. Thirteen days later, at the traditional chunari ceremony, a crowd of at least 250,000 gathered at the site of her death to worship her as a goddess. At the time of the incidence, the Sati Prevention Act was not in existence. Hence the accused were tried under the Indian Penal Code for glorifying the incidence of ‘sati’. Anti-sati groups have focused not merely on the cruelty of sati as a physical act but even more on the institutionalized subjugation of women implicit in it. In light of these incidents, the Government of India enacted the Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987.

Maintenance to Muslim women:

Under Muslim law, It is the obligation of the husband to maintain his wife in all circumstances. In a Muslim marriage a husband is bound to maintain his wife even if there is no agreement between them regarding this. A Muslim husband is not bound to maintain his wife only if the marriage is void or irregular. However, the obligation of Muslim husband to maintain his wife only applicable if the wife remains faithful and obeys all his reasonable orders i.e. Discharge her matrimonial duties.

Under Muslim law it does not matter if wife is earning or not or if she is capable of maintaining herself, husband is bound to maintain her; this is quiet contrary of what other religious laws and acts state where only dependent women is eligible of Right to Maintenance.

Under Muslim personal law, a divorced wife is entitled to maintenance by her former husband during the period when she is observing Iddat. According to Muslim personal law, after the expiration of the Iddat period the wife is not entitled to any maintenance under any circumstances mentioned Muslim law. Muslim law do not acknowledge any commitment on the part of the husband to maintain his former wife after he had divorced her.

Shah Bano Case:

In Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum, AIR 1985 SC 945 case, the question that came for consideration before the Supreme Court was whether a Muslim wife, whose husband had taken a mistress was entitled to claim maintenance from her husband. The point of interest was that since the husband is permitted by Muslim law to take more than one wife, can his second marriage afford a legal ground to the wife to live separate and claim maintenance. The Supreme Court while interpreting the explanatory clause to sub-Section (3) of Section 125 observed that they are matrimonial injuries that entitled a neglected wife to live separate and claim maintenance. The explanation has to be construed from the point of view of the injury to the matrimonial right of the wife and not with reference to the husband’s right to marry again. The explanation has to be seen in its full perspective but not disjunctively. The Court decreed maintenance holding that the right of polygamy does not curtail the application of Section 125(1) to Muslim first wife. Thus, even if personal law permits such a marriage both the wives are entitled, for it is neglect by the husband as against other. Similarly keeping a mistress will amount to neglect. Thus we can say that the Court held that Muslim women are entitled to maintenance through Section 125 of the Code before the divorce and after divorce; they can claim maintenance through the provisions of the Act. Thus the Court of Law upheld its jurisprudence for the protection of rights of Muslim women.

Education as Fundamental Right:

Education is a fundamental human right and essential for the exercise of all other human rights. It promotes individual freedom and empowerment and yields important development benefits. Yet millions of children and adults remain deprived of educational opportunities, many as a result of poverty. Quality education aims to ensure the development of a fully-rounded human being. It is one of the most powerful tools in lifting socially excluded children and adults out of poverty and into society.

The Indian constitution in its original enactment defined education as state subject. Under Article 42 of the constitution, an amendment was added in 1976 and education became a concurrent list subject which enables the central government to legislate it in the manner suited to it. The 86th Constitutional amendment making education a fundamental right was passed by Parliament in 2002. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, a law to enable the implementation of the fundamental right, was passed by Parliament. Both the Constitutional amendment and the new law came into force from 1st April 2010.

The new law makes it obligatory on part of the state governments and local bodies to ensure that every child gets education in a school in the neighbourhood. The Constitution (Eighty-sixth) Amendment Act has now inserted Article 21A in the Constitution which makes education a Fundamental Right for Children in the age group of 6- 14 years by providing that; “the State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years in such manner as the State may, by law, determine”.

In Avinash Mehrotra v Union of India (13 April 2009) case, the Supreme Court decided that there is a fundamental right to receive education free from fear of security and safety, and the right to education incorporates the provision of safe schools pursuant to Articles 21 and 21A of the Constitution. No matter where a family seeks to educate its children (i.e., including private schools), the State must ensure that children suffer no harm in exercising their fundamental right to education. State Governments and Union Territories were directed to ensure that schools adhere to basic safety standards and that school buildings are safe and secure according to the safety norms prescribed by the National Building Code and affidavits of compliance were required to be filed by authorities concerned. In interpreting the right to education, Dalveer Bhandari, J. reasoned: ‘Educating a child requires more than a teacher and a blackboard, or a classroom and a book. The right to education requires that a child studies in a quality school, and a quality school certainly should pose no threat to a child’s safety.’

Public Interest Litigation:

Public interest Litigation, means, litigation filed in a court of law, for the protection of “Public Interest”, such as pollution, terrorism, road safety, constructional hazards, etc. It is litigation introduced in a court of law, not by the aggrieved party but by the court itself or by any other private party. It is not necessary, for the exercise of the court’s jurisdiction, that the person who is the victim of the violation of his or her right should personally approach the court. Public Interest Litigation is the power given to the public by courts through judicial activism in case of the victim does not have the necessary resources to commence litigation or his freedom to move court has been suppressed or encroached upon. The court can itself take cognizance of the matter and precede suo motu or cases can commence on the petition of any public-spirited individual.

Articles 32 and 228 of the Constitution that give power to any citizen to move the Supreme Court or High Courts respectively wherever there is an infringement of a fundamental right.  There are some various area where a public interest litigation can be filed.

1. Violation of basic human rights of the poor.
2. Content or conduct of government policy.
3. Compel municipal authorities to perform a public duty.
4. Violation of religious rights or other basic fundamental rights.

A very prominent PIL activist in India is, Mr. M.C. Mehta: a lawyer by profession and a committed environmentalist by choice. From the scores of PILs he filed, it seems his mission in life was to protect the environment. He has single-handedly obtained about 40 landmark judgements and numerous orders from the Supreme Court against environmental offenders.

In M. C. Mehta v. Union of India (Shriram Food & Fertilizer), (1986) 2 SCC 176 case the Public Interest Litigation was filed, the Court held that the company manufacturing hazardous & lethal chemical and gases pose danger to life and health of workmen & directed them to take all necessary safety measures before re-opening the plant.

In M.C Mehta V. Union of India (1988) 1 SCC 471, case M. C. Mehta filed a Public Interest Litigation against Ganga water pollution so as to prevent any further pollution of Ganga water. The Supreme Court held that petitioner although not a riparian owner is entitled to move the court for the enforcement of statutory provisions, as he is the person interested in protecting the lives of the people who make use of Ganga water. Under this order, many tanneries in Kanpur and along the bank of rivers were closed or shifted.

Right to Information:

The right to information is a fundamental right under Article 19 (1) of the Indian Constitution. “information” means any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advice, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force.

In State of U.P v. Raj Narain, AIR 1975 SC 865 case,the Supreme Court ruled that Right to information will be treated as a fundamental right under article 19. The Supreme Court held that in Indian democracy, people are the masters and they have the right to know about the working of the government. Thus, the government enacted the Right to Information act in 2005 which provides machinery for exercising this fundamental right.

The basic object of the Right to Information Act is to empower the citizens, promote transparency and accountability in the working of the Government, contain corruption, and make our democracy work for the people in real sense. An informed citizenry will be better equipped to keep necessary vigil on the instruments of government and make the government more accountable to the governed.

Under the provisions of the Act, any citizen may request information from a “public authority” (a body of Government or “instrumentality of State”) which is required to reply expeditiously or within thirty days. The Act also requires every public authority to computerise their records for wide dissemination and to proactively disclose certain categories of information so that the citizens need minimum recourse to request for information formally.

Right to Information includes the right to: Inspect works, documents, records. Take notes, extracts or certified copies of documents or records. Take certified samples of material. Obtain information in form of printouts, diskettes, floppies, tapes, video, cassettes or in any other electronic mode or through printouts.

The Central RTI Act extends to the whole of India. All bodies, which are constituted under the Constitution or under any law or under any Government notification or all bodies, including NGOs, which are owned, controlled or substantially financed by the Government are covered. All private bodies, which are owned, controlled or substantially financed by the Government are directly covered.

In Subhash Chandra Agarwal v. Indian National Congress, File No. CIC/SM/C/2011/001386 and CIC/SM/C/2011/000838 case, where the complainants had approached the Central Information Commission (CIC) raising the issue of the disclosure of accounts and sources of funding of 6 leading political parties. The complainants had also sought for details of the promises made by the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in their election manifesto and further details about how many of the promises were fulfilled. However, the parties denied the information sought for by the complainants on the ground that they were not public authorities. In a landmark verdict, the CIC held that the Indian National Congress, the BJP, left parties CPI(M) and CPI, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) are public authorities and therefore fall within the purview of the Right to Information, Act 2005 (RTI Act). In particular, the role being played by these political parties in the democratic set up and the nature of duties performed by them also pointed towards their public character, bringing them within the ambit of section 2(h) of the RTI Act. The Full Bench of the CIC directed that the parties designate Chief Public Information Officers who would respond to the RTI requests made by the complainants, granting them 6 weeks’ time to do so.

Rights of Accused:

There are certain fundamental rights of an accused person under the constitution of India. These rights are given to all, irrespective of the fact if a person is accused of a crime. The rights of the accused in India are divided into rights before trial, rights during trial and rights after the trial. Accused rights include the right to fair trial, get bail, hire a criminal lawyer, free legal aid in India, and more. Some important rights of accused are as follows:

• Right to file an appeal against his conviction in a higher court.
• Right to have all their human rights when in prison. Also, be subjected to humane treatment by the prison authorities.
• Right to have family visits in jail
• Right against solitary confinement
• Right to know about the accusations and charges
• Right against wrongful arrest
• Right to accused of privacy and protection against unlawful searches
• Right against self-incrimination
• Right against double jeopardy
• The Right against the ex-post facto law
• Bail as the rights of accused in India
• Right to legal aid
• Right to a free and expeditious trial
• Right to be present during a trial
• Right to get copies of documents
• Right to be considered Innocent till proven guilty
• The Right to be present at the trial
• Right to cross-examination
• Post-Trial Rights of the Accused Person
• Right to get a copy of the judgment
• Right to receive protection from police if there are reasons to believe there is a threat to his life post-acquittal

Rights of Prisoners:

Article 21 has not only ensured right to life but right to personal liberty also; and nobody can be deprived of these except according to the procedure established by law. Article 21 stands out as the beacon light for all freedom lovers promising the development of more rights when needed and ensuring a minimum degree of fairness in all legal proceedings. There is no specific guarantee of prisoner’s rights in constitution of India. However, certain rights which have been enumerated in part III of constitution are available to the prisoners too because a prisoner remains a person in the prison. Besides the constitution, there are certain other statutes like The Prison Act, 1894, Prisoners Act 1900, and Prisoners Act, 1955, where certain rights are conferred to the prisoners. Prison & Police Manuals, which also have certain rules & safeguards for the prisoners & cast an obligation on the prison authorities to follow these rules.

• Right to speedy trial
• Right to free legal aid – right to appeal
• Right to bail (Babu Singh v. State of U.P., AIR 1978 SC 527)
• Right against hand-cuffing
• Right against bar fetters (Sunil Batra v. Delhi Admn, AIR 1978 SC 1675)
• No right to escape from custody (D.B.M. Patnaik v. State of A.P., AIR 1974 SC 2092)
• Right to write a book (State of Maharashtra v Prabhakar Pandurang, AIR 1966 SC 424)
• Right against solitary confinement (Sunil Batra v. Delhi Admn, AIR 1978 SC 1675)
• Right against inhuman treatment (Kishore Singh v. State of Rajasthan, AIR 1981 SC 625)
• Right against custodial violence (Sheela Barse v. State of Maharashtra, AIR 1983 SC 378)
• Right against delayed execution (T.V. Vatheeswaran v. State of T.N., AIR 1983 SC 361)

Compulsory Registration of Marriage:

Civil registration of events like birth, death, marriage, and so on is primarily done to provide the legal records needed by law. In India, Section 30 of the Births, Deaths and Marriage Registration Act, 1886, mandates compulsory birth registration.

The registration of marriage in India is not compulsory. Registration laws are at discretion of the state and at times the same has been proved to be beneficial whereas at times registration has not played any major role in the marriage. The main benefit of marriage registration is that the person whose marriage is registered will be able to get a passport, a visa and a number of other documents such as driving license, bank accounts etc. easily. It is also important in legacy and succession.

In Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, 14 February, 2006 case, the Apex Court was of the opinion that the matter of registration of marriage falls within the ambit of Entry 30, List-3, and Section 7 of the Constitution of India. Hence, it was viewed that the registration of marriage for any religion under the law must be made compulsory once the solemnization has been done. It was though this case the judiciary provided nod to the legislature for making compulsory registration of marriage in India.

Parsi, Christian, and Special Marriage Acts are the only central legislatures that mandate compulsory marriage registration. The majority of enactments for compulsory registration are made at the state level. There is a need for a national law on compulsory marriage registration that is neither stringent nor too lax. The law needs to solve the present ambiguity on the legal age of marriage without interfering in the prevailing customs of a community. The implementation of the law should be decentralized for its effective enforcement.

Abolition of Bondage Labour System:

Bonded labour was historically associated with rural economies where peasants from economically disadvantaged communities were bound to work for the landlords. The concept of bonded labour is another form of slavery which is an amalgamation of inhumane exploitation and discrimination. Bondage labour is a practice in which employers give high-interest loans to workers who work at low wages to pay off the debt. The Supreme Court of India has interpreted bonded labour as the payment of wages that are below the prevailing market wages and legal minimum wages.

Article 23 of Indian constitution was drafted which prohibited the practice of any form of forced labour and made all such practices punishable. Even though there was a constitutional provision which prohibited any form of forced labour, the parliament failed to enact a law which explicitly abolished the practice of bonded labour. Post-independence several states like Orissa (Orissa Debt Bonded Abolition Regulation, 1948), Kerala (Kerala Bonded Labour System Abolition, 1975) and Rajasthan (Rajasthan Sagri Abolition Act,1961) enacted state legislations which penalised the practice of bonded labour. Despite several states penalising the practice of bonded labour, there was no uniform law until 1976 which prohibited and penalised the practice of bonded labour.

The Bonded Labour System stands abolished throughout the country with effect from 25.10.1975 with the enactment of Bonded Labour System (Abolition)Act, 1976. It freed unilaterally all the bonded labourers from bondage with simultaneous liquidation of their debts. It made the practice of bondage a cognizable offence punishable by law.

Under Central Sector Scheme for Rehabilitation of Bonded Labourers (2016), financial assistance to the extent of Rs. Three lakhs is provided to released bonded labourers along with other non-cash assistance for their livelihood.

In Badhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India, AIR 1984 SC 802  case, the Public Interest Litigation was filed before the Supreme Court under Article 32 of The Constitution of India to issue appropriate directions for prohibition of Bonded Labour. The petitioner conducted a survey in stone quarries situated in Faridabad district. It was found by the petitioner that they were living in substandard conditions. There were a lot of middlemen who extracted the money from the workmen as commission. The court directed the Central Government and the State of Haryana to install washrooms, suitable drinking facilities, provide medical kits so as to raise the living standards of the workmen. The court directed the Central Government to conduct inspection every fortnight and in case, any workman is found in distressed condition, he should be provided medical and legal assistance. The court went on to observe that, the right to live with human dignity enshrined in Article 21 derives its life breath from the Directive Principles of State Policy and particularly Clauses (e) and (f) of Article 39 and Articles 41 and 42 and at the least, therefore, it must include protection of the health and strength of workers men and women, and of the tender age of children against abuse, opportunities and facilities for children to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity, educational facilities, just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief. These are the minimum requirements which must exist in order to enable a person to live with human dignity and no State neither the Central Government nor any State Government has the right to take any action which will deprive a person of the enjoyment of these basic essentials.”

In Peoples’ Union for Democratic Rights v. Union of India, AIR 1982 SC 1473 case, the petitioner commissioned three social scientists to enquire into the conditions under which the workman worked in Asiad projects. Based on the investigations conducted by the social scientists, petitioner sent a letter addressed to Justice P.N Bhagwati. In pursuance to the same, the Hon’ble Supreme Court took notice of the letter on the judicial side and issued notice to Union of India and State of Delhi. The court held that, “The Union of India, the Delhi Administration and the Delhi Development Authority cannot escape their obligation to the workmen to ensure observance of the provisions of various labour law by its contractors and for non-compliance with the laws by the contractors, the workmen would clearly have a cause of actions against them as principal employers.” The court also held that a person who has been forced to work as a bonded labour and person who is working as a labour at a rate lesser than the minimum wage shall be dealt equally.

Child Marriage Prevention:

Child marriage is a global issue fuelled by gender inequality, poverty, social norms and insecurity.  Child marriage refers to any formal marriage or informal union between a child under the age of 18 and an adult or another child. While the roots of the practice vary across countries and cultures, poverty, lack of educational opportunities and limited access to health care perpetuate it. Some families marry off their daughters to reduce their economic burden or earn income.

It is believed that the origin of child marriages is from the time of Muslim Invasions that began more than 1,000 years ago. Invaders used to rape unmarried Hindu girls or kidnap them forever which lead the Hindu community to marry off their daughters at an early age or even from their birth to protect them.

Primary Causes for Child Marriage:

• Poverty: For poor families, marrying off one of their daughters can mean one less mouth to feed and one less child to educate. Child marriage might seem to make financial sense in the short term for struggling parents, but it can actually trap families in a cycle of poverty.
• Gender Discrimination and Lack of Education: Usually families discriminate between boys and girls. Female children are considered a burden as they do not need to work and have to look after the household chores before and after marriage.
• Tradition, Culture and Pressure of the society: Child marriage is deeply imbedded in some cultural traditions, where it is viewed as a normal and reasonable practice. The parents justify their decision of child marriage under religious beliefs.

• Lack of Education: Inadequate educational possibilities for females, particularly in rural regions, increase a girl child’s vulnerability to being married off at a young age. A lack of education also diminishes the ability of girls to reject marriage and pursue alternate objectives.
• Inadequate Laws: The ambiguity of the legislative provisions also poses numerous challenges to the status and validity of child marriage in the country. The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act contains a loophole that permits child marriages to continue when the girl reaches the age of 18, even if it does not make them unlawful. In many instances, authorities don’t take action against people responsible for marrying off youngsters since there is a window of opportunity for the girl’s agreement.
• Poor Implementation of Laws: The government has the obligation to act with due diligence to prevent, protect, prosecute, punish and repair acts that excuse or perpetuate child marriage, through both legislative and institutional mechanisms. But the implementation of law is poor.
• Lack of Awareness:
• Insecurity of Their Daughter’s Future: Many people have this perception that a married woman is much safer from societal offences than an unmarried woman. Unmarried women are viewed with malafide intentions that lead to crimes against them.
• Safety: For families living in dangerous environments, like a refugee camp or war zone, child marriage can actually seem like a safer option. Child marriage rates have been known to increase during the chaos of war, as families endure both economic instability and fear of violence.
• Avoiding Share in Ancestral Property: Generally, in rural areas parents think that all their ancestral property belongs to their sons and if they marry their daughters at an early age then they will be out of the share. 

Impacts of Child Marriage:

• Human rights violation: Child marriage is a violation of human rights and dignity, which unfortunately still has social acceptance. It has a serious impact on the education, health, and safety of the children. Child marriage breaches the rights of children, including their right to an education, their right to be safe from physical and emotional harm, their right to leisure time, and their right to be with their parents.
• Reduces Education Rates for Girls: Child marriage typically marks the end of a girl’s education. Once she’s married, she’s expected to take care of her husband and start having children, leaving little time for school or a career.
• Burden on Economy: Younger brides are more likely to have larger families because they have more child-bearing years during married life.  i.e., when a girl is married at an early age, she normally tends to have more children and unwanted pregnancy. Lack of access to modern medical facilities to avoid or postpone pregnancy, women are forced to have pregnancy and carry the child. Thus the population increases fast resulting in burden on the State.
• Early Pregnancy Leading to Health Complications: Without having the proper knowledge about the sexual activities and bodily changes which occur during puberty the girl cannot cope with changes in her during pregnancy. This leads to an early pregnancy which results in many health complications during pregnancy, during delivery and during post-delivery. Due to desire for a male child, young girls and women are forced to conceive as many times as she can till she gives birth to a male child. Similarly, children born to relatively young moms have significant mortality rates. Health issues are likely to arise in the youngsters that survive.
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• Inabilities to Plan or Manage Families: Young girls exercise less influence and control over their children and have less ability to make decisions about their nutrition, health care and household management.
• Contributes to higher fertility rates: YThey also usually face a greater inequality with their husbands, resulting in the wife having little to no say in when or how many children to have. 

Time Line of Penal Provisions for Child Marriage:

• Indian Penal Code, 1860, made having sex with a girl who is younger than 10 illegal.
• According to the Age of Consent Bill, 1927, a marriage with a girl under the age of 12 would be invalid, revised the rape rule in 1927.
• The Child Marriage Restraint Act, which is also known as Sarda Act, was a law enacted to restrain the practices of Child Marriage. The Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 established 16 as the minimum age for girls’ marriage and 18 as the minimum age for males’ marriage.
• The Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Act, 1978 modified the legal marriage age for males and women as 18 and 21, respectively. The marriage that was performed in defiance of this requirement was nonetheless legal, nevertheless.

The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006:

• Child Marriage is prohibited in India as per the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.
• Under this act, the marriageable age for a male is prescribed as 21 years and that of a female is 18 years. A decree of nullity can be obtained by a girl who has entered into a child marriage within 2 years of attaining the age of 18 years. The following are considered as a crime under the Act:

• To attend or take part in a child marriage (as a parent or guardian);
• To allow, encourage or fail to stop a child marriage (as a parent or guardian);
• To perform or help with a child marriage in any way;
• For an adult male to marry a child wife.

Elimination of Child Labour:

Children are the greatest gift to humanity and Childhood is an important and impressionable stage of human development as it holds the potential to the future development of any society. Children who are brought up in an environment, which is conducive to their intellectual, physical and social health, grow up to be responsible and productive members of society. By performing work when they are too young for the task, children unduly reduce their present welfare or their future income earning capabilities, either by shrinking their future external choice sets or by reducing their own future individual productive capabilities. Under extreme economic distress, children are forced to forego educational opportunities and take up jobs which are mostly exploitative as they are usually underpaid and engaged in hazardous conditions. Parents decide to send their child for engaging in a job as a desperate measure due to poor economic conditions.

National Child Labour Policy:

Constitutional and legislative provisions providing protection to children against employment has been elaborated in the National Child Labour Policy announced in 1987. The policy addresses the complex issue of child labour in a comprehensive, holistic and integrated manner. The action plan under this policy is multi-pronged and mainly consists of: Ø

• A legislative action plan;
• Focuses on general development programmes for the benefit of the families of children; and
• Project-based action plan in areas of high concentration of child labour

Constitutional Provisions:

The Constitutional guarantees are reflected in the policies, plans, laws and schemes on child labour.

• As per Article 24 of the Constitution, no child below the 5 age of 14 years is to be employed in any factory, mine or any hazardous employment.
• Article 39 requires the States to direct its policy towards ensuring that the tender age of children is not abused and that they are not forced by economic necessity to enter avocations unsuited to their age or strength.
• Recently, with the insertion of Article 21A, the State has been entrusted with the task of providing free and compulsory education to all the children in the age group of 6-14 years.

The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act (1986):

The Act was the culmination of efforts and ideas that emerged from the deliberations and recommendations of various committees on child labour. Significant among them were the National Commission on Labour (1966-1969), the Gurupadaswamy Committee on Child Labour (1979) and the Sanat Mehta Committee (1984).

The Act aims to prohibit the entry of children into hazardous occupations and to regulate the services of children in non-hazardous occupations. In particular it is aimed at

• the banning of the employment of children, i.e. those who have not completed their 14th year, in 18 specified occupations and 65 processes;
• laying down a procedure to make additions to the schedule of banned occupations or processes;
• regulating the working conditions of children in occupations where they are not prohibited from working;
• laying down penalties for employment of children in violation of the provisions of this Act and other Acts which forbid the employment of children;
• bringing uniformity in the definition of the child in related laws.

Any person who employs a child below 14 or a child between 14 and 18 in a hazardous occupation or process can be punished with jail time of between six months and two years and/or fine between Rs. 20,000 and Rs. 50,000.

Special legislations for Women:

India is a part to various International Conventions and Treaties which are committed to secure equal rights of women. One of the most important among them is the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), ratified by India in 1993. Other important International instruments for women empowerment are: The Mexico Plan of Action (1975), the Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies (1985), the Beijing Declaration as well as the Platform for Action (1995) and the Outcome Document adopted by the UNGA Session on Gender Equality and Development & Peace for the 21st century, titled “Further actions and initiatives to implement the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action”. All these have been whole-heartedly endorsed by India for appropriate follow up.

The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Indian Constitution in its Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles. The Constitution not only grants equality to women, but also empowers the State to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favour of women. Clause 3 of Article 15 of the Constitution of India gives powers to the legislature to create special provisions for women and children. A bare act reading of A. 15 (3) is “Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for women and children”.

Within the framework of a democratic polity, our laws, development policies, Plans and programmes have aimed at women’s advancement in different spheres. From the Fifth Five Year Plan (1974-78) onwards has been a marked shift in the approach to women’s issues from welfare to development. In recent years, the empowerment of women has been recognized as the central issue in determining the status of women. The National Commission for Women was set up by an Act of Parliament in 1990 to safeguard the rights and legal entitlements of women. The 73rd and 74th Amendments (1993) to the Constitution of India have provided for reservation of seats in the local bodies of Panchayats and Municipalities for women, laying a strong foundation for their participation in decision making at the local levels.

Various Act in Empowerment of Women are as follows:

• The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976.
• The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.
• The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956.
• The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961.
• The Medical termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971.
• The Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987.
• The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.
• The Pre-Conception & Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994.
• The Sexual Harassment of Women at Work Place (Prevention, Protection and) Act, 2013.
• Amendment in definition of ‘Rape’ under Section 375 IPC.

These various national and International Commitments, laws and policies notwithstanding women’s situation on the ground have still not improved satisfactorily. Varied problems related to women are still subsisting; female infanticide is growing, dowry is still prevalent, domestic violence against women is practiced; sexual harassment at workplace and other heinous sex crimes against women are on the rise.

Special legislations for children:

Children are the greatest gift to humanity and Childhood is an important and impressionable stage of human development as it holds the potential to the future development of any society. Children who are brought up in an environment, which is conducive to their intellectual, physical and social health, grow up to be responsible and productive members of society.

Special legislations for backward classes. In 1974, the National Policy for Children declared that the nation’s children were its most important asset. With more than one-third of its population below 18 years, India has the largest young population in the world and ironically

Constitutional Provisions for Children:

• Article-15 prohibits discrimination on the grounds only religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. But the state is empowered to make special provisions for women and children.
• Article 15 Clause 3 of the Constitution of India gives powers to the legislature to create special provisions for women and children. A bare act reading of A. 15 (3) is “Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for women and children”.
• Article-23 prohibits traffic in human beings and forced labour. Under this article, the Supreme Court in the case of M. C. Mehta vs. State of Tamil Nadu-1997 has held the child labour illegal.
• Article-24 expressly provides that children below the age of fourteen shall not be employed to work in any factory or mine or be engaged in any other hazardous employment. The 86th Amendment Act 2002 has inserted
• Article 21(A) as a Fundamental Right providing free and compulsory education for the children of six to fourteen years.
• Article 39(e) says that the tender age of children is not to be abused.
• Article 39 (f), as inserted by the Forty-Second Amendment, directs the state to give children opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity. Also, that childhood and youth are to be protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment.
• Article-45, as amended by 86th Amendment Act 2002, now directs the state to provide early childhood care and education for all children until they complete the age of six years.
• It is also a fundamental duty, as newly inserted by 86th Amendment Act 2002, in Article 51 A(k) that a parent or guardian is to provide opportunities for education to his child or ward, between the age of six and fourteen years.

All these provisions made in our Constitution aim at all over development of children.

Special Legislations for Children:

• The Right to Education Act,2009
• The Child Labour (Regulation and Prohibition Act),1986
• Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act),2012
• The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015
• The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act,2006
• The Immoral Traffic Prevention Act,1956

Special legislations for backward classes:

Rights of transgenders

Recognition of same sex marriages

Recognition of Live in Relationship

Conclusion:

Law not only lays down the norms which are acceptable to a given society, it also lays down the norms, which the society should adopt in the interest of its own welfare. The rules or code of conduct which a society develops by experience shapes into law for the sake of uniformity, consistency, performance and sanction. An acceptable norm thus becomes a law. Law changes the society as per societies requirement also society changes the law through amendment of statutes/Acts etc.  The departure there from is condemned as crime in criminal law but civil law becomes a code of conduct regulating the society. Thus law can be considered as an instrument of social changes.