“In this era of social media and internet, boys and girls achieve puberty at an early age. Due to this early puberty, they become attracted towards each other, where they also have physical relations. In such cases, boys are not criminals at all.” This comment is from Madhya Pradesh High Court, where the bench had advised the Central Government to reduce the age of consent for sexual relations. Madhya Pradesh High Court is not the only one which has given this advice to the Centre. Now the Law Commission has presented its suggestion in this matter.
The Law Commission or rather the Law Commission has suggested some amendments in the law to deal with the cases covered under the POCSO Act. Many such cases came to light in the courts of the country, where a boy was declared a criminal or faced serious charges like rape for having sex with a girl below 18 years of age. During the hearing related to these cases, many High Court benches including MP High Court, Delhi-Madras advised the Center to reduce the age of consent.
Suggestion not to be taken seriously
The Central Government handed over this responsibility to the Law Commission on the suggestion of the courts. Now the Commission gave its opinion with some proposals for amendments. The Commission is against reducing the age of consent but has presented a way to deal with such cases in the form of a proposal. The Commission said that amendment in the POCSO law is necessary. If a case of sexual relations with a girl under 18 years of age comes to light, then such a case should not be dealt with as seriously as is expected under the law.
Provision for life imprisonment-death penalty under POCSO Act
The POCSO law is an attempt to protect children from sexual harassment and pornography. In the last few years, many such cases have come to light, where sporadic disputes have been seen. In this law, a person under the age of 18 years is defined as a child. In such a situation, it is a bit difficult to deal with the cases related to this. Under Section 6 of the POCSE Act, instructions have been given to deal with such cases strictly. There is a provision of punishment of 20 years or life imprisonment in this case. In some serious cases, there is also a provision for death penalty for the charges.
Law Commission recommended
The Law Commission has suggested amendments in the law and said that there is tacit consent in sexual relations between the age of 16-18 years, but the law does not allow it. The Law Commission has said that such cases should be considered while deciding the punishment. According to the suggestions, special courts will be allowed to impose lesser punishment than the minimum punishment prescribed under sub-section (1) of the POCSO Act. Special courts have been advised to consider various aspects while deciding the punishment. It has been said that in such cases the court should see whether there was consent in having sex?
Law Commission's suggestion to the courts
The courts will also assess the age difference between the accused and the child and ensure that it does not exceed three years. As per the Law Commission's recommendation, the court will assess the criminal history of the accused, conduct after the offense and confirm the absence of undue influence on the child, fraud, misrepresentation, coercion, use of force, violence or deception. Also, the court will verify that the accused has not made any threats or misbehaved with the victim's family. Only after this the courts will decide the punishment. However, this has just been suggested by the Law Commission. The government has not given its consent on this.
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