The Supreme Court has given its consent to hear the petition filed against the reduction in the age limit for entering into a consensual relationship. Explain that the NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan has filed a petition in the Supreme Court opposing any reduction in the age of consensual intercourse. The NGO's plea states that this puts the interests of a large number of sexually abused children, especially girls, at risk.

A bench of CJI Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra has issued a notice to the Center regarding the petition. Also tagged the petition with the pending petition filed by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).

The NCPCR had challenged last year's order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court which had said that a minor Muslim girl can marry a man of her choice. The apex court has issued a notice on Friday seeking response from the Centre.

Apart from seeking several directions, the NGO's plea has also sought a direction to the courts to refrain from making comments about casual relationships and immoral behavior of the minor victim while dealing with criminal proceedings under the POCSO Act. The petition also challenged the circular dated December 3, 2022, issued from the office of the Director General of Police, Tamil Nadu, directing police officers not to show haste in arresting the accused in mutual romantic affairs, alleging that among them Most fall into the category of 'mutual romantic relationships'.

Significantly, recently the Bombay High Court had given opinion to reduce the age limit for teenagers to have consensual sex. The court had said that many countries have reduced the age of consent for teenagers to have sex and now the time has come that our country and Parliament should also be aware of the happenings across the world. A single bench of Justice Bharati Dangre, in an order passed on July 10, expressed concern over the increasing number of criminal cases under the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act, where the accused are still punished. When the victims, despite being juveniles, state that they were in a consensual relationship.