The Court made the observation while hearing a case involving a 27-year-old man accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl.
The Bombay High Court at Aurangabad recently stated that it would be inappropriate to quash cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act involving consensual relationships with minor girls until the Central government clarifies its position on the decriminalization of such cases [Aakash Nanasaheb Waghmare v. State of Maharashtra].
The observation was made by a Bench comprising Justice Vibha Kankanwadi and Justice Sanjay Deshmukh while hearing a case against a 27-year-old man accused of engaging in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl.
The accused asserted that the relationship was consensual.
“If the Courts start accepting that a fairly major boy of age 25 years on-wards takes such step of taking away the girl who is a minor and then now comes with the defence of adolescent love, then it will not be good sign from the legal point of view, because particular acts are legislated with certain aims and objects. Now unless the things are clarified by the Central Government upon directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, we should not consider such cases (we are carving out those cases wherein both the parties are a\dolescent and innocent),” the Court said.
The Court’s observation was made in light of a recent Supreme Court ruling in Re: Right to Privacy of Adolescents, where the apex court expressed concern over the criminalization of consensual adolescent relationships under the POCSO Act.
On May 23, the Supreme Court had urged the Central government to consider decriminalizing consensual teenage romances. It also directed the Centre to review the Amicus Curiae’s recommendations and explore the implementation of a national sex education policy based on the report.
The High Court observed that the Central government has yet to provide a response and stated that it would await this clarification before granting any exceptions.
In the current matter, a police complaint was filed in January this year after hospital authorities reported that a minor girl had delivered a child.
The girl, aged 17 years and 6 months at the time, stated that she was in a romantic relationship with the accused and that they had eloped and married at a temple in 2023 without parental approval.
After cohabiting for some time, she became pregnant and later returned to her parental home to give birth.
The man moved the High Court seeking to quash the police case, arguing that the girl had voluntarily entered into the relationship. Supporting his claim, the girl submitted a written statement affirming she had no grievance against him and that continuing the case would negatively impact both her and her daughter’s future.
However, the High Court declined to quash the case, citing the significant age difference between the two.
“The fact which cannot be brushed aside is that the applicant was around 26 years of age at the time of alleged marriage. At least he ought to have understood that he should wait till the girl attains 18 years of age. Then in spite of having knowledge that the girl is minor, when he takes her away from the legal custody of her parents, from that point itself he commits the offence,” the Court said.
The Court also expressed broader concerns regarding child marriage and teenage pregnancies. It referenced a local news report indicating that, in 2024 alone, 453 pregnant minor girls were part of child marriages in Aurangabad district.