Law panel submits reportson age of consent, e-FIRs

The 22nd Law Commission has submitted two reports to the Union law ministry, one on the minimum age of consent under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act and another on the online filing of first information reports (FIRs), panel chairman Ritu Raj Awasthi said on Wednesday.

The announcement came after a high-level meeting in New Delhi.

“We have finalised the report on the Pocso act and another with respect to online FIRs and we have sent the reports to the ministry of law and justice,” said Awasthi, also the former chief justice of the Karnataka high court.

But there was no clarity on when recommendations on simultaneous elections will be finalised. “Still some work is going on, on simultaneous elections. We have not finalised the report. There is no timeline for finalising it,” he told reporters.

The development came amid a swirling debate over the age of consent under Pocso. In the past few years, a number of high courts have expressed concern that consensual relationships between teenagers were getting criminalised under the stringent 2012 law meant to protect children from sexual violence.

In December 2022, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud asked lawmakers to look into the “growing concern” over criminalisation of adolescents who engage in consensual sexual activity.

Earlier that year, the Delhi high court noted that the intention of Pocso Act was to protect children from sexual exploitation and it was “never meant to criminalise consensual romantic relationships between young adults”. The Meghalaya high court also observed that acts of mutual love and affection between a young couple will not amount to “sexual assault” under the concerned law.

Last year, Union minister for women and child development Smriti Irani told the Rajya Sabha that the government had no plans to reduce the age of consent for consensual relationships, adding, “the question does not arise.”

The Law Commission is a non-statutory body, working under the aegis of the Union ministry of law and justice. Following definite terms of reference from the department of legal affairs, the commission conducts research in the field of law and makes recommendations to the Centre in the form of reports. These recommendations are not binding on the government, though they may have some persuasive value.

The issue of holding state and national elections simultaneously is a politically loaded one. A high-powered panel led by former President Ram Nath Kovind is also looking into it. Holding simultaneous elections would be ideal as well as desirable, but a workable formula is required to be provided in the Constitution, the Law Commission had concluded in its draft report in August 2018, citing detailed discussions.