There is no proposal to reduce the age of consent from 18 years to 16 years under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012 to prevent the criminalisation of consensual relationships between teenagers.

Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani was responding to a query by Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam whether the Government is considering any proposal to reduce the age of consent from 18 to 16 years under the Act to prevent the criminalization of consensual relationships between teenagers.

“Does not arise,” the Minister stated in her written response.

“The Act clearly defines a child as any person below the age of 18 years. The POCSO Act provides punishment as per the gravity of the offence. The Act was further amended in 2019 to introduce more stringent punishment including the death penalty for committing sexual crimes on children, with a view to deter the perpetrators & prevent such crimes against children,” the Minister added.

The Majority Act of 1875 provided 18 years as the age for the attainment of majority. Where an offence under the POCSO Act was commissioned by a child, Section 34 provided procedures for determining the age of the accused, she further said in the Rajya Sabha.

Earlier this month, the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud had appealed to the Parliament to consider concerns regarding the age of consent under the POCSO Act considering the fact that romantic relationships form a substantial majority of cases under the law.