ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has rejected bail for Syed Zafar Ali Shah, who is accused of marrying a minor, and has directed the trial court to wrap up the case quickly. Shah married a 14-and-a-half-year-old girl for which a case was registered in August 2021.

During the hearing, a three-judge bench headed by Justice Qazi Faez Isa asked Shah’s lawyer how a grown man could marry a minor and what was the punishment for marrying an underage girl.

The lawyer responded by saying that according to Pakistani laws, marrying a girl under the age of sixteen is a crime and punishable by life imprisonment, but according to Sharia law, a fourteen-and-a-half-year-old girl can get married.

Justice Isa asked the lawyer how he could apply for bail when he is basically confessing to his client’s crime. According to the law, an underage girl cannot get married, Justice Isa remarked.

The lawyer said that according to the medical report, the girl’s age is seventeen years old. The court responded by saying that the girl’s registration certificate (B-form) states that she is 14. Why would the court look at a medical report when a certified document (B-form) exists, the judge remarked.