Overview

• The Union government’s written submissions described the 18-year consent threshold as a deliberate policy choice designed to shield minors and confirmed there is no plan to introduce legislation to lower it.
• Officials warned that introducing a close-in-age exception or reducing the age of consent would dilute the statutory presumption of vulnerability and risk opening the door to trafficking and other abuses.
• The government stated that while courts retain case-by-case judicial discretion to assess adolescent relationships, such sensitivity should not translate into a legislative dilution of the bright-line standard.
• Senior advocate and amicus curiae Indira Jaising continues to press for a read-down to 16 years and the inclusion of close-in-age exemptions to decriminalise consensual teen relationships.
• The Supreme Court has indicated it will distinguish coercive abuse from consensual adolescent partnerships, with further arguments in the Nipun Saxena PIL scheduled for August 20.