Dangerous to reduce age of consent for sex below 18: Centre in Supreme Court

India Today

2 days ago

The Centre has told the Supreme Court that the statutory age of consent at 18 years is a "deliberate, well-considered, and coherent" policy decision intended to protect minors from sexual exploitation. The matter is being argued in the Supreme Court amid cases of men being punished under the stringent Pocso Act despite the girl being in a consensual sexual relationship. Senior advocate and amicus curiae Indira Jaising backed reducing the age to 16 to decriminalise adolescent relationships.advertisementThe government, however, said the courts were free to decide on a case-to-case basis.The government's position, presented by Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, emphasised that this legal threshold is essential for upholding the integrity of child protection laws and should not be diluted under the pretext of accommodating adolescent romantic relationships.
Arguing against any proposal to reduce the age of consent or create legal exceptions, the Centre stated such a move would be"not only legally unsound but also dangerous", according to a PTI report.It further said that relaxing the law would "provide a defence mechanism even to those abusers who exploit a child's emotional dependence or silence".NEED TO PREVENT MISUSE OF CONSENT: GOVTAccording to the Centre, strict and uniform enforcement of the existing law is necessary to prevent the misuse of "consent" as a defence in cases involving minors."Any departure from this standard, even in the name of reform or adolescent autonomy, would amount to rolling back decades of progress in child protection law, and undermine the deterrent character of statutes like the Pocso (the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act, 2012 and the BNS (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita)," the Centre argued.The government also made it clear that any discretion in applying the law must remain with the judiciary on a case-by-case basis, and should not be introduced into the statute as a general rule or diluted standard, according to the PTI report.It warned that "introducing a legislative close-in-age exception or reducing the age of consent would irrevocably dilute the statutory presumption of vulnerability that lies at the heart of child protection law. A diluted law risks opening the floodgates to trafficking and other forms of child abuse under the garb of consent."It reiterated that lowering the age of consent would open the "floodgates" to various forms of abuse masked as consensual relationships, especially in a social context marked by inequality and power imbalance.In the case currently before the top court, the issue at hand concerns the legal treatment of adolescent relationships.AGE OF 18 FOR CONSENT NOT ARBITRARY: GOVTadvertisementDefending the existing law, the Centre said, "The legislative determination to fix the age of consent at eighteen (18) years, and to treat all sexual activities with a person below that age as an offence irrespective of purported consent, is a product of a deliberate, well-considered, and coherent statutory policy."The Centre explained that the 18-year threshold is not arbitrary but stems from a "constitutional and legislative recognition of a minor's vulnerability, especially in a socio-economic context marked by deep inequalities and power imbalances."In particular, it pointed out that a child's inability to resist or report abuse becomes even more complex when the abuser is a parent or a close relative."In such cases, presenting 'consent' as a defence only victimises the child, shifts the blame onto them, and undermines the very object of Pocso to protect children from exploitation regardless of whether they were 'willing'," it said.According to the Centre, retaining the current age of consent is essential to "give full effect to the legislative intent, protect the bodily integrity of children, and uphold the constitutional and statutory safeguards accorded to them.""The Supreme Court, along with high courts across the country, have always maintained the sanctity of legal age of consent as 18 years of age. This statutory yardstick has been upheld on numerous occasions, keeping in view the legislative intent and the pre-eminent constitutional mandate of protecting young children," it noted.The submission comes in response to arguments made earlier by Indira Jaising, who had urged the Court to read down the age of consent from 18 to 16 years. Jaising told the bench that the current law "criminalises consensual romantic relationships among adolescents and violates their constitutional rights".- EndsTrending Reel