SC Asks Centre's Reply On Decriminalising Consensual Sex At 16-18

The Supreme Court of India on Friday sought a response from the centre on a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a ruling to decriminalise the law on statutory rape, often appealed against 16 to 18-year-old teenagers for indulging in consensual sex.

A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra noted the PIL filed by advocate Harsh Vibhore Singhal in his personal capacity.

SC Seeks Centre Reply On Age Of Consent

The bench had issued notices to the Union ministries of law and justice, home affairs, and other statutory bodies, including the National Commission for Women.

The PIL challenged the legality of statutory rape laws that criminalise consensual rape between adolescents between the ages of 16 and 18 on the grounds that their consent to sexual acts is statutorily invalid.

The plea requested that the court "pass a writ of mandamus under Article 32 or any other direction in the nature of a writ and exercise its powers under 142 to decriminalise the law of statutory rape as applied to all cases of voluntary consensual sexual contact between any adolescents aged between 16 and 18 years."

The plea added that adolescents of that age possessed "physiological, biological, psychological, and social capacity, the ability to assimilate and evaluate information to understand and comprehend risks, the freedom to make informed choices to convey affirmative decisions or otherwise, and the agency and decisional/bodily autonomy to fearlessly, freely, and voluntarily do what they wish to do with their bodies."

MP High Court Called For Revisiting Age Of Consent

In June, the Madhya Pradesh High Court drew attention to the need for revisiting the age of consent in India. The court made the observation while quashing an FIR report made against a 20-year-old man who was accused of rape. The MP High Court urged the central government to consider reducing the age of consent from 18 to 16 years.

Justice Deepak Kumar Agarwal noted that since boys and girls are attracted to each other owing to early puberty, it leads to "consensual physical relationships." He added that in such cases, male individuals cannot be considered criminals because their actions are a result of age and natural attraction. The court emphasised the need to distinguish between consensual relationships among adolescents and heinous acts of sexual violence.

Suggested Reading: MP Court Asks Centre To Lower Age Of Consent, But Is 16 Mature Enough?