MADURAI: Even before ink could dry on the Madras high court order refusing to be a party to child marriages in the name of religion, another PIL saying government officials should not interfere with marriages solemnized under Muslim personal law has been filed in the court.

In a landmark ruling on Thursday, Justice C T Selvam had disallowed marriage of a 15-year-old Muslim girl, saying, “This court cannot, and would not, pass an order by virtue of which little girls become child brides. When there is a legislative ban on child marriages, the courts cannot go out of their way to help the promoters of child marriages.”

On Friday, Madurai-based advocate M Mohamed Abbas filed a PIL faulting government officials who had foiled the marriage of a 16-year-old girl, daughter of Syed Abuthakir of Maharajapuram village in Virudhunagar district.

Though officials said they were forced to take custody of the girl and hand her over to the district child welfare committee, the PIL said the action of social welfare officials had offended the basic tenets of Islam. The department prevented a lawful marriage under Mohammedan Law, and confined the Muslim bride in a home, the petitioner said.

He said officials did not produce the girl before the judicial magistrate concerned, and the parents were prevented from seeing the girl. Noting that the petition had been filed for the overall welfare of the Islam community, the petitioner sought the court’s direction to the government to handover the girl to her parents, and award 10 lakh compensation to the family.

When the matter came up for admission, a division bench of Justice S Tamilvanan and Justice V S Ravi directed the government to produce the girl before the court on Monday.