'Can You Say it is Criminal to Love?' Says SC While Hearing Petition on Lowering Age of Consent
The Wire Staff
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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday (August 19) said that there is a need to distinguish between rape and genuine romantic cases involving youngsters on the cusp of majority.
"Now, they develop feelings for each other. Can you say it is criminal to love? We have to keep a distinction between a criminal act like rape, etc., from this," said a bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and R. Mahadevan, noting the existence of co-education institutions and universities, reported Press Trust of India.
The apex court’s observations came while it was hearing a petition that raised the question whether or not the age of consent, which is 18 years, should be reduced to 16 under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
"When there are genuine romantic cases, they like each other and they want to get married... Don't treat such cases the same as criminal cases, You have to keep the reality of society in mind,” said the court.
The court also referred to the trauma such couples face, mostly because of the male partner being sent to jail by the parents of the girl after filing a case under the POCSO Act.
"This is the harsh reality in society," the bench said, noting cases under the POCSO Act were also filed to cover up elopements.
Senior advocate H.S. Phoolka, who appeared for the petitioner organisation, called for safeguard and said that a similar issue concerning the age of consent was being considered by another bench of the apex court, reported PTI.
The court said that the police would look into the matters to ascertain whether it was a case of kidnapping, trafficking or whether it was a case of genuine love.
After Phoolka said he would place on record some top court orders in the context of the prayers sought for in the petition, the bench posted the matter for August 26.
Earlier, the Union government had defended in the apex court the statutory age of consent of 18 years, saying the decision was a "deliberate, well-considered, and coherent" policy choice aimed at shielding minors from sexual exploitation.
It had said that diluting the age of consent or introducing exceptions under the guise of adolescent romance would be not only legally unsound but also dangerous.
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