The Delhi High Court Monday sought response from the Centre on a PIL seeking equalising of the legal age of marriage for men and women.
A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar issued notice to the Centre on a PIL which says the limit of 18 years for a woman to get married amounts to "blatant discrimination".
Men in India are permitted to get married at the age of 21.
The public interest litigation (PIL) moved by BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay claimed that the difference in minimum age of marriage for men and women was based on patriarchal stereotypes and has no scientific backing.