The 22nd Law Commission, headed by Justice (Retired) Ritu Raj Awasthi, has recommended the government to retain the existing age of consent under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The current age of consent in India is 18 years.
Key points
- The Commission submitted the Report (no. 283) titled “Age of Consent under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012” to the Law Ministry on 27th September.
- The panel said that reducing the age of consent would have a direct and negative bearing on the fight against child marriage and child trafficking.
- The commission also advised the courts to tread with caution even in cases related to “adolescent love”, where criminal intention may be missing.
- It advised the introduction of guided judicial discretion while sentencing in cases that involve the tacit consent of children in the 16 to 18 years age bracket.
- In the report, the panel noted that certain amendments would be required in the POCSO Act, 2012 to remedy the situation in cases involving tacit approval, though not consent under law, on the part of children aged between 16 and 18 years.
- It opined that such cases do not merit to be dealt with the same severity as the cases that were ideally imagined to fall under the POCSO Act.
e-FIRs
- On September 27, the 22nd Law Commission also submitted a report (no. 282) in which it recommended amending Section 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 in order to roll out the registration of e-FIRs in a phased manner, beginning with offences that attract a jail term of up to three years.
- The commission said that e-FIRs will tackle the persisting issue of delays in the registration of FIRs, and will allow citizens to report crimes in real time.
